FG slow to deal with vile tweets from its official
who circulated copies of Mr Walsh’s tweets at a party meeting of TDs and senators on Wednesday night.
Ms O’Connell, a regular online target of Mr Walsh’s, due to her pro-choice stance, has sent a complaint about Mr Walsh to Fine Gael general secretary Tom Curran.
This will lead to a disciplinary process, which Leo Varadkar promised would be completed ‘swiftly’.
The Taoiseach said: ‘Mr Walsh’s use of language is not acceptable to me as party leader. All debate should be conducted in a respectful manner at party meetings, in the media and on social media. Party officers have a particular responsibility to set the standard.’
However, his stance contrasted with an earlier Fine Gael statement that simply said the complaint would be investigated, and that, ‘the party will not be making any other comment at this time’.
In contrast, Mr Walsh’s employer, A&L Goodbody took a far tougher stance, stating: ‘We take any instance of abusive or offensive behaviour very seriously, whether in a personal capacity or not. We have robust policies in place and we will act decisively if these have been breached’. The firm added: ‘An investigation is under way and will be concluded shortly.’
A number of particularly vicious attacks were launched against the actor and comedian Tara Flynn, who has revealed she had an abortion.
The Walsh account said, on October 1: ‘From what Tara Flynn says, she was pregnant and just couldn’t be bothered having a baby. So she had it killed. Why is she a feminist hero?’
Ms Flynn said yesterday: ‘It’s genuinely frightening when it seems a senior member of a party in Government is allowed to get away with misrepresenting you.’
Her account was repeatedly targeted by the Walsh account, and she gave permission for the abortion tweet to be published.
Mr Walsh, 32, a former president of Young Fine Gael was previously tackled by another Twitter user for his use of the word ‘bitch’.
A tweet from his account read: ‘I’ve used that word 11 times in 9,700 tweets. How does that compare to the rest of Twitter?’
Screengrabs online yesterday suggested he had directed the word against Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald, Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall, Sinn Féin TD Louise O’Reilly, British Labour MP Diane Abbott, French National Front leader Marine Le Pen, and former US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
A derogatory sexual epithet was also directed at Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin. The final straw appears to have been a posting, in the wake of last weekend’s Fine Gael national conference, in which Mr Walsh claimed that after an ‘even-tempered debate on abortion’, Ms O’Connell ‘yodelled’ the words: ‘Look at all them men, discussing our uteruses!’
Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty told RTÉ’s Seán O’Rourke yesterday: ‘He needs to be sorted out… The one I take the most umbrage at, is a gorgeous lady called Tara Flynn, whom I want to apologise to, on behalf of Fine Gael, for the hurt she has been on the receiving end for the last couple of months. This young man has serious issues. He is one of the angriest young men I have come across.’
She added: ‘This has been going on for years. You kind of get desensitised on Twitter. You try and block out the crap, excuse my language, but he reached a pinnacle on Saturday afternoon.’
Efforts by the programme and the Mail to afford a right-of-reply did not produce a resultMail.
‘It’s genuinely frightening’
THAT the Twitter comments of Fine Gael official Barry Walsh are deplorable is all too apparent. That he should now be ejected from the party is also a given. No other sanction will suffice.
What is also somewhat disquieting, however, when it comes to this most unsavoury episode, is the lack of urgency from the Fine Gael leadership in relation to the condemnation of Mr Walsh’s unacceptable comments.
Yes, they are investigating the matter, and there are, of course, within any organisation, particular protocols to be adhered to.
Having said that, it is concerning that a Fine Gael activist should have been able to conduct his social media slurs for so long before the situation was addressed by the party. Additionally, it is disappointing that Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s statement on the matter was somewhat slow in its delivery, particularly for someone who is himself so au fait with the power of the social media machine.
The tardiness of Fine Gael in recognising that this was a problem, and in reacting to it, cannot help but reinforce the notion that it is not a female-friendly party. Whatever the truth of that particular matter, the optics, once again, aren’t good.