Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon has said the online abuse of politicians is stopping people from entering politics.
The Dublin Central TD made the comments with the general election on the horizon, and is concerned at the number of “good people” not entering politics due to online abuse.
Speaking to BreakingNews.ie, Mr Gannon says he is particularly concerned with the level of abuse women and people from minorities receive.
“It is really worrying, it stops good people from entering politics”, said Gannon.
“That for me is where it becomes far more insidious than some idiot online calling me whatever name they choose to, while sitting in the comfort of their own home without putting a name to it.
“To me, it is something that I have to deal with for a long time because I don’t align myself with the politics of hate, they try to tear you down.
“For other people who have had their appearance knocked, family members targeted; when the abuse comes offline and goes on to the street.
“You would have these fools who have been emboldened by online groups who think they can shout at politicians and community activists who are canvassing and spreading their message. That is deeply insidious to how we do politics in Ireland.
“Our politics in Ireland is face-to-face, it is interactive, you know your local politician. That is a good thing.”
The Social Democrats TD is critical of how the Government dealt with the recent hate speech bill.
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said that the “incitement to hatred” element of the bill does “not have a consensus”, and shall be dealt with at a later time.
While he said it would not have solved the issue of online abuse, he said the Government “bottled it” when it came to the bill.
“The hate speech bill wouldn’t have done a single thing to deter people from being hateful online, and to a certain degree, that is okay.
“What the hate speech bill would have done, when you use that hate to turn into violence, that is where we needed hate speech legislation.
“The Government – Helen McEntee and Fine Gael in particular – failed to define what would constitute hate within that legislation, they allowed other activists to step in, and then they bottled it.
“For me, there is clear definitions of hate speech when you are using your words to incite violence against a person because of their characteristics. That would be my idea of hate speech.”
Mr Gannon claims the Government took the decision not to follow through with the bill as its vote was not impacted by hatred within society.
“I think the Government have cowed towards hatred. I think we have seen that in terms of the fencing going up along the canals. I think we have seen that in the very hostile environment towards migrants who are sleeping in tents. There is no consequence for those targeting migrants in tents.
“I think the Government of the day, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in particular, made a calculation that the rising level of hatred we see in society doesn’t impact their vote.”
It was a big week for the Social Democrats, as they published their affordable housing plan.
The Social Democrats’ plan would see affordable three-bedroom homes sold for under €300,000 in Dublin and under €260,000 elsewhere.
The cost-rental homes would be at €1,200 per month in Dublin and €1,000 per month outside the capital.
Mr Gannon said the €300,000 homes in Dublin can be achieved by replicating other housing projects in Dublin.
“I think the Ó Cualann model in Ballymun demonstrates very clearly how that works.”
The Social Democrats have also been very critical of the Budget by the Government earlier this month.
Social Democrat TD Cian O’Callaghan accused the Government of “bribing” the electorate with a series of one-off extra payments ahead of the General Election.
Mr Gannon claims it was a wasted opportunity for the Government with not enough long-term measures at a time there is such a big surplus.
“That budget will be seen in a decade to come as one of the biggest wasted opportunities in the history of the state.
“Never have we had so much money available to us, that will do so little collectively. Giving one-off payments that will be gone by Christmas. Making many of those payments universal to the point where there will be people who don’t need that same level of support.
“Part of that budget was giving electricity grants to holiday homeowners. If you are fortunate enough to own a holiday home and your first home, you will know you don’t need a second electricity grant when so many people are going without.
“That money could have been used to address a number of really deep societal issues. We see that in schools in terms of need for Speech and language therapies, occupational therapists, all those critical deficits within our State that impact people’s lives.”
