ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the state of scholarship on political populism in Ireland, examines relevant research that explores definitional issues, and identifies Irish populist political actors. There is a small but growing literature on populism in Ireland and some consensus that, historically, populism has been largely empty populism with traces of anti-elitism, with the latter strengthening in the wake of the financial crisis. The literature focuses on a number of structural factors that facilitate populism, most particularly political culture and the party system. A small part of the literature has focused on populist actors as ommunicatorsin particular, on leaders and individual independents in terms of their charisma and particular styles. In 2012-2013, the rise of SYRIZA in Greece and Podemos in Spain galvanized the debate about populism, with the term populism becoming increasingly conspicuous. An increasing amount of attention has been paid to the phenomenon in the media.
