Darragh's Soapbox: The rise in political harassment
John and Marie O'Connor. John said: "You can stop and quiz a politician, but you can do all that without lowering to a certain level." Photo: Joe Evans
The harassment of politicians has become increasingly prevalent.
The recently published 'Oireachtas Task force on Safe Participation in Political Life' report found that almost all Irish politicians and most of their staff have experienced some form of threat, harassment, or violence. Issues linked to receiving abuse included immigration, the rights of women, housing and homelessness, and LGBTQ+ issues.
Whilst addressing a conference on media reportage of suicide last week, Waterford TD Mary Butler highlighted the abuse of trans people, commenting that when she refers to trans health, she closes X (Twitter) for 48 hours to avoid abuse of herself and that group.
Locals in Waterford this week spoke on the rise in online harassment of politicians.
said: “It’s wrong and it shouldn’t be happening. Politicians shouldn’t have to put up with people invading their personal lives. Everyone deserves their privacy and they’re just doing a job at the end of the day. If they’re not doing their job right, vote them out, do it the proper way."
said that the media can also contribute to the issue: “There is a rise in politicians being harassed online, and a lot of it is ignorance. You can stop and quiz a politician, ask them questions and you can tell them you don’t agree, but you can do all that without lowering to a certain level.
“It’s pretty bad nowadays and unfortunately what happens is when you give people an inch they’ll take a mile, and when this harassment becomes the norm, then it can get progressively worse.
“Some journalists also need to have more manners when approaching politicians. If we’re all proud of our state, we should at least respect the position that politicians hold even if you don’t agree with them."
said: “Politicians are representing the people and they should be shown respect.”
