Female politicians have recounted abuse including being spat at and having coins thrown at them, as well as an incident involving an election poster being displayed in a graveyard.
In an interview on RTÉ's Late Late Show, Neasa Hourigan, Green Party TD for Dublin Central, said she had been spat on more than once, had coins thrown at her head, had been threatened on the Luas, had photos of her car and house and children taken and put online, as well as being followed down the street.
Holly Cairns, Social Democrat TD for Cork South-West, said that there was a reluctance to come forward. She said abuse came publicly online, through private messages, letters in the post, voice notes on WhatsApp or Instagram or inappropriate questions into Q&As. Ms Hourigan added that the Oireachtas provides a list on how to protect yourself, but she was already doing most of those thingsShe added that she always has a male staff member present when she has a constituency clinic, adding that it was frustrating.."If we don’t do that there’s no real protections that’s going to stop someone who has set themselves on doing something," she said.
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