Kerry mayor: ‘We’re not punch bags’

MAYOR OF KERRY CALLS OUT SOCIAL MEDIA’S ABUSIVE NAME CALLERS

MAYOR of Kerry Niall Kelleher has lambasted online trolls who continue to spout abuse at politicians, stating that local representatives are not ‘punch bags’.

In a week that social media abuse made national headlines, following the death of TV presenter Caroline Flack and claims of online abuse by former TD Regina Doherty, the mayor said that trolls should put their name on the ballot paper if they want to make a difference.

“Some of the comments I’ve seen online during this election campaign have been outrageous, they’ve even taken to abusing family members,” the mayor said. “We [politicians] are here to make our communities better places, we’re not here as punch bags.”

His stance was supported by councillors in the council chamber on Monday.

KERRY Cathaoirleach Niall Kelleher strongly criticised those who take to social media to abuse people, saying that politicians are not ‘punch bags’.

The outburst came at Monday’s full meeting of Kerry County Council, where the Rathmore Fianna Fáil official called on people engaging in abusive on-line behaviour to put their names on the ballot paper if they want to make a real difference.

The Cathaoirleach said he was sickened by the level of insults and abusive comments emanating from social media sites during the recent General Election campaign, with comments on some social media forums telling female candidates ‘they’d be better off ’ staying at home.

“Some of the comments I’ve seen on-line during this election campaign have been outrageous, they’ve even taken to abusing family members,” he said. “We [politicians] are here to make our communities better places, we’re not here as punch bags. We need to unite and be critical of social media abuse.”

He added that politicians – of all parties and none – are here to serve the people.

“There wouldn’t be much point in coming in here if we all agreed. But there are limits,” he said. Mayor Kelleher added that he had ‘no problem’ with people being critical of a person’s political stance.

“But to get personal about it is something I want to call out here today. Let these people put their name on the ballot paper, and I’d have no worry about debating with them.”

The Mayor’s comments were supported by all council members, with Cllr Michael Gleeson praising those who put their name on the ballot paper, saying ‘we need to defend and protect democracy.”

Independent Cllr Niall O’Callaghan said: “as someone who has been the victim of on-line abuse, something needs to be done. The idea of having faceless people on-line abusing people is not right.”

Cllr Sam Locke stressed that the guards needed to get involved: “For those of us who have experienced bullying and intimidation, it’s an ongoing process,” he said.

The controversy comes at a time of mounting calls for tougher laws governing social media sites and how they should deal with abusive comments. The death of UK TV broadcaster Caroline Flack last weekend, after she was the victim of toxic on-line comments, brings Mayor Kelleher’s criticisms into sharper focus.

Cllr Jackie Healy-Rae even took to Twitter following the presenter’s death, saying that unless media companies are forced to crack down on people spouting abusive commentary, the problem is set to continue.

He tweeted that since getting elected in May 2019, he has taken his ‘fair share’ of abuse on-line, saying he was ‘used to it’ and tries not to let it get to him. He blasted the idea of people writing stuff on-line without even knowing anything about the person involved, other than buying into something that appears written ‘in some rag’.

“Unless there is a change in the mind frame of people using social media, and that of the media, we will unfortunately continue to have tragedies such as that of Caroline Flack,” he said.

On last week’s ‘Sunday With Miriam’ the topic of on-line abuse also featured as Miriam O’Callaghan spoke with female candidates who had lost their seats in the General Election.

Outgoing Social Protection Minister and Fine Gael politician from Meath East, Regina Doherty, said if she had a Euro for every time she had been called the ‘C’ word in the last month, she would have been able to retire.

Ms Doherty went on to describe the level of on-line abuse as ‘horrific’ and said that female politicians definitely get more abuse than male counterparts.

Mayor of Kerry Niall Kelleher has hit out at social media trolls

Caroline Flack, who was found dead in her east London flat on Saturday. She had taken her own life.

Cllr Jackie Healy Rae took to Twitter in the wake of Caroline Flack’s death, stating that he had taken his fair share of abuse online. He called for a change in mind-frame from Twitter users.

Regina Doherty, who this week retired from electoral politics, has said the level of online abuse is horrific and added that she had been called the ‘c’ word on several occasions.