FOLLOWING THE recent high profile suicides of a number of teenagers, and Fine Gael TD Shane McEntee, Government Chief Whip and Enniscorthy TD Paul Kehoe has lashed out at cyber-bullies, adding that he himself had been a victim of numerous threats and insults.
Minister Kehoe stated that cyber bullying was a huge issue and that the recent spate of high profile incidents over the last few months had raised questions over the kind of comments people could get away with anonymously.
“Times are tough and the first target is always the politician. Every TD has been on the receiving end of abuse and threats, and some are more affected by it than others.”
He added that he has received numerous threats and insults from anonymous Twitter and Facebook accounts and through text message: “I’ve received some very threatening messages from people. I’ve had people say they were going to get my family and that they were going to burn my house down.”
He referred to those sending such messages as “sad, faceless individuals” and said that he does not pay attention to such comments anymore but simply deletes them.
“I have no problem with people phoning me up or coming into one of my clinics and voicing their concerns but these people are unbelievable. The kind of messages they’re leaving says a lot about the type of people they are.”
