Council condemns abuse of reps by online ‘trolls’ Tourism project is denied funding
WEXFORD County Council sent out the message that the vicious online abuse being endured by elected representatives and those who put their name forward for election is not on and it has to stop.
Having been elected on the final count in the recent general election, Fine Gael’s Paul Kehoe used his victory speech as a platform to call out online trolls for the unnecessary personal and hurtful comments that they regularly post on his and other representatives’ social media accounts. Speaking after his election, Minister Kehoe said: ‘ The amount of negativity in this campaign has been unreal.
Social media is turning into one of the most dangerous communications. You’re dealing with a lot of very personal abuse from these trolls and it’s not just me, it’s lots of other candidates. It’s time that the government took action on this. This is people’s lives we’re dealing with.’
At last week’s meeting of Wexford County Council, Cllr Jim Moore raised the issue once again, referencing guidelines from the Local Authorities Members Association (LAMA).
‘ The abuse and intimidation that those who put their names forward got was unbelievable,’ he said. ‘I think it’s incumbent on us to reinforce the statement that LAMA issued and show solidarity with those who have been victims of this terrible online abuse.’
THE establishment of a €15 million tourism hub for Enniscorthy town has been dealt a significant blow after an application for funding was rejected by Fáilte Ireland.
Chairperson of the Enniscorthy
Municipal District Kathleen Codd
Nolan voiced her concerns on the issue with Chief Executive of Wexford
County Council Tom Enright, who stated he was not unduly concerned at this early stage.
‘I’m not overly disappointed that there was no funding from Fáilte
Ireland on this occasion,’ he said.
‘It’s early days and we have to get planning. It certainly won’t put us off moving forward with the project and acquiring some of the derelict buildings in the town centre.’
‘We will have a further proposal for the next district meeting. This is a €10million to €15million project. It will require significant investment from Wexford County Council as well as obtaining various funding.’