Which party will benefit most from the Chinese and Russians interfering in the next GE here?

On second question would imagine it would be "no party" - independents of all types (left wing, nationalist, right wing, "rural"). They need money to fund their elections etc., so being cynical might be more likely to engage.

China and Russia have lots of it. IMO they search for political weirdos to fund, so they can corrupt and co-opt countries from the inside without firing a shot if they get lucky, and some of the manchurian candidates manage to attain positions of power.

15-20 years ago certainly they would have been. They opposed practically all of the various EU treaty referenda as far as I recall. They basically would have had the PBP/Corbyn attitude to the EU where they warned of creeping federalism and worried about things like an EU army.

They've been on a bit of a journey since then though. The face of the party has changed and they've taken in a lot of younger members and it's gradually moved towards the centre from where it was back then. The best thing that ever happened the EU in the eyes of Sinn Fein and many other formerly Euro-skeptic parties around Europe was witnessing the shambles of Brexit. That's where all the theories and dreams of "freedom" died a death after seeing the harsh reality of what that meant. Also with the DUP being anti-EU that makes SF contractually obliged to support it.

I am not sure if Ireland contributing to the budget has anything to do with it at all, it is or was ideological IMO + at core they have been (in the past anyway) opposed to the idea of Irish membership of the EU itself and what it represents. (Even though they are left wing), similar to nationalists in UK and elsewhere all around Europe, they believed it takes away power from Ireland.

However the party has been expanding over past decade or so and becoming more mainstream. That sort of pure nationalist Euroscepticism is not and has never been a very popular opinion in Ireland. It is quite fringe/oddball. I think Brexit may have taught them quite a sharp lesson as well illustrating that sometimes it is nice to have allies at your back vs "ourselves alone" against the rest all the time and being a member of the EU (+ therefore inside the tent pissing out) is a part of that.

On the surface SF have changed, but I think the instincts are still quite anti-EU + suspicious of moves towards more integration. They won't be "taking us out" but one can expect they will probably oppose the next EU treaty change whenever that comes (they have opposed them all before now, they will find some reason...esp. if there's anything new about collective security and defence in it, which could be likely).

I can't see Russia or China bothering too much with here but they'll focus on the Left parties where there is a ideological bond and comprise other individuals or parties who just want a cheque if possible.

There will be Russian and/or Chinese interfering in the next election? And that’s a given?

As in a couple hundred paid ‘influencers’ typing social media ‘misinformation’ or something?

i don’t know I feel we’re almost getting paranoid now about China and Russia. Like everything that goes bad they must have had their hand in it. I think this a big stretch. Why would they bother?

Which is always why it is so baffling and frustrating when far-left people regurgitate obvious pro-Kremlin propaganda in an effort to pin the blame on anybody but Putin for the invasion.

It's like "Jesus Christ - You have 'Anti-Fascist' in your bio and you're giving the biggest fascist in the World a pass every single time"

On that note I suspect that the Irish Republican Socialist Party may have been in receipt of payments from Russian Groups. Probably indirectly but they've even been over to the Donbass to hang out with the separatists (pre-2022). Here's some of their typical fare, straight out of the mouth of Putin's propagandists:

That's literally the DNR flag that they are flying - Unbelievable!

You are indeed correct. Sinn Fein's Pauline conversion to loving the EU is a direct result of opposing whatever themums were for.

It would be interesting to see SF's policy position in any future EU referendum.

Going back to the thread title, Chinese and Russian interference will be aimed at destabilisation. They won't favour the current three government parties as a result. Which of the opposition parties will benefit? Least likely Labour, most likely PBP and then Sinn Fein. Independents are a curious one, they tend to lead to unstable governments the more independents there are. Will be watching out for signs.