Manx nationalism appears to be going back to the future - with the re-emergence of the shadowy underground organisation Fo Halloo.

Fo Halloo - which is the Manx phrase for ‘underground’ - first surfaced in the 1970s as a movement which opposed the arrival of so-called New Residents into the island, concerned at their impact on property prices and Manx heritage and culture.

Now half a century on, and with the topic of immigration once again hitting the headlines, posts have appeared on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) by Fo Halloo2 which describes itself as being a mouthpiece for those who want to put Manx people ‘first and foremost’.

It says it wants to make ‘immigration and Manx fair treatment’ the no.1 issue ahead of the 2026 Isle of Man general election. ‘Back to the future!,’ it vows.

It has launched an underground website and newsletter, carrying just as its predecessor did, the slogan ‘Manx Free Press’.

Distancing itself from traditional Manx nationalist organisations, it states: ‘We have no affiliation with the Celtic League or any of the Manx nationalist movements of old.

‘We aren’t your traditional Manx Gaelic-loving boring beardy weirdies (yessir!), neither do we ever intend to be.’

It adds: ‘We intend to be a mouthpiece for the current generation of independent progressive Manx folk who seek an inclusive, holistic, progressive and prosperous island where the needs of Manx people are put first and foremost.’

Fo Halloo says it will attempt to ‘reposition a progressive and prosperous society that doesn’t just work for English retired and public sector expats, IoM government workers, and the gilded majority who appear content that we continue to sell off the family silver and follow a doomed new residency strategy just to keep the gravy train going for themselves’.

It says it wants to move the island forward and ‘not leave the disenfranchised non-affiliated Manx on the back-burner for another 15 years at least’.

‘You won’t find any English-imported UK Reform or GB News-style race baiting here either’, it adds.

The original Fo Halloo’s newsletter, distributed for free, was merciless in its often-defamatory attacks on politicians, government policies and the activities of property ‘speculators’.

Its activists daubed slogans on new homes and roads with messages such as ‘Stop the Land Grab’ and ‘No More New Residents’ and removed marker pegs from building sites - but there were claims they had been involved in more sinister incidents too.

Fo Halloo was linked to arson attacks and bricks through windows.

A life-size effigy of property developer Judah Binstock, made of fertiliser sacks and signed F.H, was tied to the top of a flagpole on Tynwald Hill.

And Fo Halloo claimed responsibility for daubing ‘Tax Dodgers Get Out’ in large black lettering on the sides of a bungalow at Lhergydhoo being renovated by the Marchioness of Queensberry.

The New Residents policy was launched by Lieutenant Governor Sir Ronald Garvey in 1961. He saw it as a means of boosting the island’s economy.

The island last saw a rise in nationalist sentiment in 2009 when pro-independence graffiti was daubed on walls and roads in the wake of the UK’s raid on VAT revenues.