[15] In July 2013, Ben Gilroy and other members of the party took part in a protest at an auctioneers in Dublin in opposition to the sale of distressed property.

[20] On 1 November 2013, Gilroy was arrested by gardaí in Navan and brought before Dublin High Court to face charges over alleged contempt of orders restraining trespass on a County Kildare stud farm to which receivers have been appointed.

Gilroy was accused of being part of a "mob" from the Rodolphus Allen Family Private Trust which forced receivers off the €8million stud farm.

[21][22][23] A number of publications and commentators have highlighted DDI's close links to the freeman on the land movement and the right-wing conservative Christian Solidarity Party.

[25][26] However, on 24 October 2013 Prime Time ran a 20-minute investigative report which highlighted close links between DDI, People for Economic Justice and DebtOptions Ireland to the Freeman movement.

[12] The party also has formal links to the fringe lobbying group known as the National Health Federation which opposes water fluoridation, compulsory childhood vaccines and promotes unproven cancer treatments.

[31] The National Citizens Movement (NCM) was formed by Elizabeth Hourihane in Cork, on 9 August 2014 on foot of nationwide anti-water charge protests.

[38][39] In June 2015, the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) referred DDI to the gardaí over failure to complete statutory declarations concerning funding and donations.

[44] During the election, the literature of one known Christian Solidarity Party candidate details an endorsement of direct democracy, with a link to the DDI website.

[46] The party claimed that 'vested interests' were using a "historic list of examples of the rape and neglect of children" to grant "power of the agents of the State to 'supply the place of the parents.'"

DDI also claimed that a 'Yes' vote could see children "adopted by strangers" if an "over-zealous nurse" contacted social workers with suspicion that a child in their care suffered a non-accidental injury.

[49] Gilroy is a leading member of the 'People for Economic Justice' campaign group and has spoken at rallies in support of bankrupt former billionaire developer Seán Quinn who was jailed in 2012 for asset stripping and non-compliance with the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation.

[11][50] During the campaign the leader of the Christian Solidarity Party, Richard Greene, took out an advertisement in support of Ben Gilroy in the conservative Alive!

[59] For the 2024 general election the party fielded candidates in Carlow-Kilkenny (David Egan),[60] Meath East (Barbara Reid)[61] and Cavan-Monaghan (Shane Mulligan).