Opinion: Do Irish politicians feel safe any more?
Taoiseach Simon Harris and Marty Morrissey pictured on O'Connell St., Dublin for a homecoming welcome for Irish Olympic athletes who returned home with 4 gold and 3 bronze Olympic medals. Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin
The increasing number of reports involving threats to politicians has raised the pertinent question about how safe is it being a public figure in today’s climate?
The issue about personal safety for politicians has become more heightened, reflected again in several threats made against the Taoiseach Simon Harris and his family over the last number of months.
While Mr Harris said he would not be deterred from doing his job, many Irish politicians are no doubt reflecting on whether they may have to do more to enhance their own personal safety while doing their job.
Aside from the trauma of online threats, more worryingly there are fears that physical attacks on politicians that have become notable in other countries could happen here in the near future.
On Budget Day last October, an aggressive mob hassled politicians as they walked out into Kildare Street. Some of the protesters had brought a mocked-up gallows with a dummy hanging from a noose and images of politicians attached to the frame.
To try and distil the reasons behind these threats is a complex one. However, it would be fair to say that the abuse of social media by the so called ‘keyboard warriors’ and an increasingly aggressive and toxic political discourse are among them.
Of course, the right for anyone to hold an elected politician to account in the form of legitimate criticism is acceptable in any democracy. Unfortunately, certain individuals feel it is acceptable to cross a line and indulge in far more sinister behaviour.
A watershed moment happened in the UK in June 2016 when Labour MP Jo Cox died after being shot and stabbed multiple times in the street in the village of Birstall, where she was due to hold a constituency clinic.
And in May of this year, Robert Fico, Slovakia’s hard-right populist prime minister, was fortunate to survive after being shot several times.
The thought of being threatened online or in public is anathema to all right-thinking people but these threats are now becoming an increasing consideration for more and more Irish politicians.
Such threats against politicians, whether digital or physical, are also an attack on democracy itself.
