An Irish politician has called for an investigation into how Leave.EU was able to secure a web address that should have been reserved for European citizens, after it was revealed that the campaign group’s website was registered under the name of an Irish man based in Waterford. Neale Richmond, a teachta dála (member of parliament), has written to ComReg, the Irish communications regulator, calling for the body “to ensure that the company meets all necessary requirements to hold a .eu web domain”. “I am deeply concerned by this move and would like to receive assurances as to whether this move is a legitimate way to retain the web domain following the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union,” Richmond’s letter continues.
When contacted by the Guardian, he said: “I see Leave.EU to be an odious organisation with a dubious reputation that spews bile, often directed specifically at Ireland. I am asking for scrutiny of their operations and qualifications.” Alongside his letter, Richmond shared examples of Leave.EU messaging, including tweets calling the former taoiseach Leo Varadkar an “EU lapdog” and “childish”, and dubbing Joe Biden an “Irish nationalist” who “is no friend of Britain”. Sean Power, the Irish businessman whose name appears on Leave.EU’s domain registration, insists he has never heard of the company. “My lawyers are looking into this on my behalf presently and will be in touch as deemed necessary in due course,” said Power, the chief executive of Business Services Group, a Waterford-based company. “I have nothing to do with Leave.EU and never heard of it before yesterday.” Andy Wigmore, head of communications for Leave.EU, asked for comment about both Power’s and Richmond’s claims, replied “Good lol”, with an emoji of a face laughing tears of joy. Under EU law, domain names ending in .eu can be owned only by European citizens, or by businesses and individuals based in Europe. Before Brexit, Wigmore had suggested that Leave.EU was content to lose access to its domain name if the eventual relationship between Britain and the EU did not allow for the name to be kept. But this week, after Britain’s transition period came to an end, domain registration records showed the pro-Brexit campaign group had in fact transferred ownership to a shell company based in Ireland, with Power’s email address listed as the contact. • This article was amended on 12 January 2021 to use the Irish term for a member of the Irish parliament.