Nigel Farage has said he was duped into saying “Up the ‘Ra!” in a video message.
Mr Farage, a leading Brexiteer and former head of the United Kingdom Independence Party, used the republican slogan in a paid-for birthday greeting video.
The GB News host offers to record personal messages for members of the public for a fee of €87 on video-sharing platform Cameo, according to The Irish Times.
He's not getting an invite to .@JimAllister Christmas party. pic.twitter.com/6C1MHG98fd
— WeeMan (@AntrimLens) October 10, 2021
In a video posted on social media, Mr Farage says: “This message is for Brian Ó Céileachair, Brexiteer, and I hope you have a great birthday. This comes from your good friend Aidan.
“Now, it’s a bit early in the day, so all I’ve got, actually, is coffee. But I hope you enjoy a few pints with the lads tonight. Up the ’Ra!” he says before taking a drink of coffee.
Mr Ó Céileachair posted the video on social media, commenting: “Quite possibly the best birthday present I’ve ever gotten courtesy of Aidan Hart and my mate Nigel Farage.”
Mr Farage told MailOnline: “If I saw ‘Up the ’Ra!’ I would have looked at that as something very innocent, and wouldn’t have even known there was an implication to it.
“A lot of messages that I get are friends sending each other messages with their own little jokes or their own little words, which I have to judge – and of course I reject some if they are crude or offensive.”
Asked if he would read out a message if he knew it supported the IRA, Farage replied, “Are you joking? I had a face-to-face death threat from them.”
Mr Farage, who says he joined Cameo to “connect with people from all over the world in a more personal way”, has 4,000 fans and a five-star rating on the platform, based on 548 reviews.
