Barrett stated that if the abortion referendum passed, it would lead to euthanasia for the elderly; "It doesn’t just begin with abortion and stop there. It ends in euthanasia, because they already have a plan. You see discussions in the newspapers sometimes, ‘What are we going to do about the pensions crisis?’". At the same event, he called for the abortion referendum campaign to be "as divisive as possible". Ultimately, the referendum was approved by 66.4% of voters, with a 64.1% turnout. In April 2018, Jim Jefferies featured Barrett on a segment of The Jim Jefferies Show. Jefferies had Barrett travel to London for an interview on abortion (despite already being in Ireland to interview Tara Flynn), "so he could endure the same kind of bullshit every Irish woman has to go through if they want an abortion". 2021 Dublin Bay South by-election In June 2021, he announced he would be running for public office for the first time as leader of the National Party, in the 2021 Dublin Bay South by-election, caused by the resignation of Eoghan Murphy. Using the campaign slogan "Right So Far", he finished 11th of 15 candidates, gaining 0.68% of first-preferences, with 183 votes. He was eliminated on the third count. The seat went to Ivana Bacik of the Labour Party. Publications Barrett self-published a book in 1998 in which he set out his political principles and advocated the creation of a "Catholic Republic". Entitled The National Way Forward!, in its text he described immigration as "genocidal", and cited Hilaire Belloc, G. K. Chesterton and Arthur Penty as having been influential figures in his philosophical development. He also promoted the work of Father Denis Fahey. During the 2002 Nice Treaty referendum campaign, some of the ideologies in Barrett's 1998 book The National Way Forward! were queried by those advocating a "yes" vote, and it was noted that the book had "mysteriously disappeared from bookshelves during the campaign". Some commentators suggested that the "Barrett controversy" had shifted focus away from other issues and assisted the "yes" campaign. Controversies Interactions with neo-Nazi and neo-fascist groups National Democratic Party of Germany Barrett spoke at events organised by the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) several times, and was the guest of honour at a NPD rally in Passau, Germany in 2000, in which anti-semitic speeches, peppered with quotes from Adolf Hitler were given, alongside claims that "Germany