“There is malice at play”: abuse “from all directions” directed at Cork general election candidates

The most striking finding of The EchoThis week’s poll of Cork general election candidates found that 95% expect the general election to take place in November. Most depressingly, more than two-thirds have experienced abuse online or in person.

Of 39 candidates, 27, or 69%, said they had been mistreated either online or in person during their time in politics. For female respondents, this proportion increased slightly to 70%.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, none of the candidates who said they were victims of abuse were willing to comment on the file.

Of all the candidates who had been victims of abuse, it emerged again and again that things tended to be much worse online than in person, with X, formerly Twitter, being cited as a particular source. However, some said the abuse also happened in “real life” and some said it was quite distressing.

Pat Buckley, Sinn Féin TD for Cork East, said he was recently forced to increase security at both his constituency office and his home.

“The level of abuse is currently beyond scope,” he said. “It’s not just the far right, it’s coming from all directions.

“There is an anger that scares you and makes the work very difficult.”

His Cork East Fianna Fáil colleague James O’Connor said he had also seen an extreme increase in abuse directed at him, both online and in person.

“It’s not a career you want to pursue because of sympathy, but there is a different attitude in the workplace now, especially among the younger generation,” said the 27-year-old.

“There’s a malignancy at play now, and it’s definitely getting worse.”

One candidate said he was seeing less online abuse now than in the run-up to the local elections, “when everything was pretty much online and felt very artificial (or) orchestrated.”

Mick Barry, People Before Profit-Solidarity TD for Cork North Central, said he had received abuse online and in person “mainly from opponents of racial equality and LGBTQ rights”.

Two candidates, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they had been advised not to say anything about the abuse they suffered because both cases were the subject of two separate Garda investigations.

Jerry Buttimer, Fine Gael candidate in Cork South Central and Cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann, said people could sometimes be angry and frustrated with public representatives, but he made a distinction between what he said was legitimate criticism and what was insult.

“The vast majority of people are decent and have every right to criticize public representatives, but there is a small minority of people who are abusive. There is a rudeness that has crept into public discourse that is completely unacceptable.”

Pat Buckley said that despite all the abuse directed at elected representatives, their work remained vital to Irish democracy and personally fulfilling.

“People gave their lives so that we could vote, so that we could represent people, and that is an incredible privilege,” he said.

“No matter how many times you get insulted, you meet someone on the street and they reach out and say, ‘You took care of my mother when she needed help’ or ‘You helped us,’ and that does just fun anything worth it.

“It negates all the negativity.”