Sinn Féin trolls need to be disciplined by Mary Lou McDonald – Carroll MacNeill

It is time Mary Lou McDonald took action against the Sinn Féin trolls who are destroying Irish public discourse and bullying and intimidating people, a Fine Gael TD has said.

Dun Laoghaire TD, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, was speaking after a Sinn Féin member in Wexford resigned from the party after using false social media profiles to abuse businessmen, politicians and celebrities.

Deputy Carroll MacNeill highlighted that Sinn Féin is engaged in organised online bullying and she is calling on all parties to give its members and supporters clear instructions about online communications.

Deputy Carroll MacNeill said: “Mary Lou McDonald needs to take action in relation to the online trolls associated with her party who are destroying Irish public discourse and bullying and intimidating people.

“Will she make a statement in relation to this latest example where a Sinn Féin Party member in Wexford has been caught using a Twitter account to troll politicians of other parties as well as various high-profile people around the country. Another Wexford based anonymous account was trolling people using the name ‘P O’Neill’, the well-known Provisional IRA code-name.

“Ahead of the new Dáil term, every party should make a clear statement about how its members and representatives communicate on social media. All parties should instruct their members to use their real names online, and not fake accounts.

“This is most needed in Sinn Féin as it seems they are actually engaged in organised online bullying. They have recently advertised to recruit online ‘activists’. Any time a member of another party puts something online, they are met with an avalanche of abuse from Sinn Féin activists.

“Chris Andrews was invited to join Sinn Féin less than a year after he had to leave Fianna Fáil due to the fake account he set up to harass and slander his internal party opponents.

“Breege Quinn, who has campaigned for truth following her son’s murder, is at the receiving end of constant online abuse.

“There have been years of examples of bullying in Sinn Féin with a number of members and Councillors having to resign.

“Online abuse is a very unfortunate part of public life today and sadly we see members and supporters of every party getting carried away online when defending a position. However, Sinn Féin activists take it to a new and dangerous level. Sinn Féin is not a normal party. They have allowed a situation to develop where online trolling is the norm.

“When is Mary Lou McDonald going to take action to stamp out this behaviour? Or is it part of their communications strategy to have their members and activists engaged in this activity online?”