From 2011 to 2016, Richmond served as the parliamentary assistant to Olivia Mitchell. After announcing that she would retire at the 2016 general election, Mitchell backed Richmond to run in Dublin Rathdown in her place,[7][8] and he was seen as the favourite to be selected for Fine Gael, but Josepha Madigan and Alan Shatter defeated him in the selection convention.[9]
Richmond is a strong advocate of the European Union and Ireland's interests in it. He is an outspoken critic of Brexit. He was a columnist at Slugger O'Toole.[14] Richmond has expressed his opposition to Irish neutrality, describing it as "morally degenerate".[15]
Richmond wears the Irish branch of the Royal British Legion's "shamrock remembrance poppy"[20] to commemorate 200,000 Irish soldiers who fought and 35,000 Irish soldiers who died in World War I.[21][22] Richmond has stated that he believes the Easter lily "has become offensive".[23] Richmond has attended July 12th celebrations marking the Battle of the Boyne and has had meetings with the Orange Order, which his grandfather was a member of.[24][25]
References
^"Neale Richmond". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 6 January 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2018.