Stephen Lennon thought if he changed his name to Tommy Robinson he would sound more English and attract groupies
Founder Stephen Lennon has mobilised EDL members in violent anti-Islamic protests across the country, which has seen mosques and Muslim communities targeted, in the two weeks since Soldier Lee Rigby was killed.
Lennon had taken to Twitter to threaten to take on 'plastic paddies' at Wembley's England verses Ireland football friendly last Wednesday.
However, the threat was not followed through.
Lennon, who goes by the name Tommy Robinson, was born to a Dublin mother and Scottish father in Luton, where he formed the extremist group in 2009.
Although he classes himself as an Englishman, he has publicly claimed to be 'proud' of his Irish heritage, but messages on his Twitter feed reveal the opposite.
Posts found on Lennon's social networking account, show the second-generation Irishman regularly refutes his heritage and abuses those who claim he is Irish.
He has also posted a string of anti-Irish slurs and remarks.
Comment: Nice try Erdogan, but unlike the Color Revolutions, the protests that never were in Libya, and the gangs armed by the CIA and friends in Syria, this is no foreign plot to bring down your government. No doubt players in the shadows will try to vector the movement this way then that way, but for now at least it appears that Turkey's uprising is a genuine revolt, much like Egypt's was in 2011.