Dublin City Councillor Gavin Pepper is under investigation for alleged breaches of the local government code of ethics.
The Independent member is accused of making a threatening phone call to a fellow councillor for the Ballymun-Finglas area.
People Before Profit Cllr Conor Reddy said he made the complaint after receiving an early morning call from Cllr Pepper in late August.
The investigation was confirmed by Dublin City Council Chief Executive Richard Shakespeare at a special meeting of the council.
While he did not name the councillor involved, Mr Shakespeare confirmed that an investigation is under way, adding that any complaint is examined by himself and the lord mayor before being passed to an external professional.
He said that if a person is found to be in breach of the rules, they could face sanctions.
Regarding complaints about councillors Mr Shakespeare said: “Where complaints are made, under ethics legislation, there is a process to follow however long it may take.
“You may not be happy with the pace they are done but the important thing is they are done properly and in accordance with statute.”
In a statement, Dublin City Council said that it could not comment while the complaints process is ongoing.
It said that over the past five years there have been three complaints made by a councillor about the conduct of a colleague.
Asked by RTÉ News to comment on the complaint against him, Mr Pepper said: “It’s a shame you never contacted me when his colleague called me a terrorist in the Dáil privilege time.
“Sorry, I’m very busy with constituency work. Have a very nice evening.”
Children ‘traumatised’ by IPAS protests in East Wall
The special meeting on public safety and misinformation was proposed by Independent Cllr Barry Heneghan who told the meeting that “misinformation from elected representatives cannot be tolerated”.
The Clontarf representative said that anyone spreading misinformation should apologise and correct the record.
He also called for their actions to be dealt with at an official level.
“Those spreading misinformation, especially public representatives, must face consequences,” Mr Heneghan said.
He referred to a recent incident in Finglas, where misinformation about a man’s activities led to suggestions that the man had posed a threat to the public.
Social Democrats Cllr Daniel Ennis, from East Wall, said that children in his community are “still traumatised” by the protests at International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) centres, which he said were caused by misinformation.
“Division has torn our community to pieces and families to pieces but all that being said I do believe people can change.
“I’ve seen the numbers drastically fall from these movements and we can’t turn our backs on people that are still being manipulated because that does nothing than cause more division.
“These are the few in our communities and there’s a few in this chamber. They won’t win and hate won’t win.”
His contribution was greeted with applause.
Green Party Cllr for the North Inner City Janet Horner said she would like to see Dublin City Council review the use of social media platforms that sow divisions in communities.
“If we cannot, as a council, as councillors, as representatives for the city, freely talk to the values of our city, which are diversity, inclusion and respect for each other, anti-racism and dignity for anybody who works for this council or represents this council, then I don’t believe those platforms are of any service any longer and I would like to see the council revise their use of them.”
Independent Cllr Cieran Perry, who represents Cabra-Glasnevin, said disinformation was a “cancer damaging social cohesion and amplifying the worst aspects of human behaviour and monetised by the social media multi-nationals”.
Cllr Reddy said that in his area a child was racially abused by another group of children in a playground and he said this was the “real consequences of the spread of misinformation and hatred by people in this chamber and with people on the streets as well”.
He added that homes had been attacked in Finglas due to a lack of clarity about how housing is allocated.
‘Not the social media police’ – DCC CEO
In response to the contributions, Mr Shakespeare said the council is “not the social media police” but that he had no difficulty in looking at the use of social media among councillors.
Cllr Pepper said he welcomed the motion but was disappointed that he was not asked to sign it, saying he has been the victim of misinformation and disinformation by being described as a “terrorist” and a landlord.
“The Government promised opposition parties to have consultation in relation to IPAS centres in working-class communities. No such meetings happened. misinformation. disinformation.
“In relation to the children’s hospital, we were told it would be open by a certain date. It’s still past that date. It’s also gone over the budget they said it would be. misinformation. disinformation.”
Fine Gael Cllr Supriya Singh, who represents Donaghmede, said she had personally witnessed “how the poison of misinformation can spread unnecessary fear and hatred. It becomes even more damaging when it distorts the reality of our city’s diverse population”.
Independent North Inner City Cllr Malachy Steenson said the Irish public were the victims of misinformation during the referendums on family and care, when RTÉ published a false tweet during a presidential election campaign, and that every political party regularly puts out misinformation.
“I’m certainly not going to take any lectures from the provisionals in this chamber or anywhere else. The masters of misinformation who are unable to keep a straight story.”
Independent Cllr for Kimmage Rathmines Pat Dunne asked Cllr Steenson to withdraw his remarks, but he declined to do so.
Independent Cllr Vincent Jackson, who represents Ballyfermot-Drimnagh, said he had seen the consequences of misinformation in his area when rumours spread that people were sleeping in a local school when it was observed that food was being delivered there at night.
He said the delivery was part of the school meals programme.
“Somebody in this country is going to get seriously hurt and if I were a person party to that spread of misinformation, I as a human being, would have to accept that.”
Lord Mayor James Geoghegan said that all those elected to the council “have a voice and with that voice comes responsibility.
“If you are a public representative, please, please do not use to stoke division, to stoke hate … That’s the universal value that I believe exists in this chamber and existed in the previous chamber I served”.
