Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald says she is determined not to let the death threat deter her from pursuing her political ambitions.
Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, Ms McDonald admitted that the incident had been “very frightening”, but she added that “every line has now been crossed” and she was now “calling out” the threat and ongoing threats and vilification on social media.
“I’ve had a year of it, of being trashed and vilified. It’s politically inspired. I’m sick of it.”
Ms McDonald thanked the public for their support, but said the abuse should not have happened, and she levelled criticism at social media platforms who allowed such content to go unchecked while the accounts of democratically elected people were blocked from displaying political content.
“This speaks to something much wider across our society and something that is frightening.”
The Sinn Féin leader said that being challenged and criticised was part of the job, but that in the past year there had been a particularly vicious focus on her and Sinn Féin.
“I've been trashed, I've been vilified. And it's politically inspired. It's not accidental. And it's very clearly to alienate sentiment, particularly in working-class areas, to brand me as a traitor, to brand Sinn Féin as a traitor. And that's been ongoing.
“But this particular incident brought it then to another level. And as far as I'm concerned, every line has now been crossed.
“Once there is a direct threat made openly, brazenly broadcast on social media that a person will shoot you, that they will take your life, and that they feel comfortable saying that, broadcasting it, announcing it to the world.
"Clearly, that puts you in the way of greater danger. And I find that frightening. I find that very, very frightening, the idea that somebody will come on and brag and say, I will shoot this woman, I will take her life. And apparently gleefully so.
“It is not acceptable in our society that people feel at liberty to throw their weight around like that, and threaten to actually kill democratically elected politicians.”
When asked about her family’s response to the death threat, Ms McDonald said they were angry. That was why she had decided to “callout” what had happened and refer it to the gardaí so that the perpetrator would know there were consequences for “these kind of actions.”
“To be very clear, it's not because I'm some sort of special category of person. I'm an equal citizen, my safety is on an equal par with the everybody else's. So it needs to get sorted out.
"But I'm also conscious that I have to go about my job and I will go about my job. I'm entrusted by those that allow me to represent them, to do my best to work hard. I'm determined that that will not be disrupted.”
The person who had issued the threat against her had also spoken of issues around immigration, she said. “He is part of that small section of Irish society that has chosen to be toxic and violent and disorderly and hateful, and they have to be faced down.”
On the issue of social media platforms and their response, Ms McDonald said there was material in circulation which she wondered how it could be circulated.
“There's material in circulation, not just on TikTok, but other social media platforms and I scratch my head and wonder how, in the name of God, any platform that's moderated in any way, becomes a vector for the level of just hate. And at the level of misinformation, the level of viciousness.”
Ms McDonald pointed out that she had a large Facebook following, but she was blocked from sharing any political content. “But that same platform that blocks not just me, but other political content is an absolute Wild West and a playground for every random stream of consciousness coming from whoever, unverified, unchecked, by people who are unaccountable at any level.
“I have raised that several times with them, and we've been told that the algorithm is the algorithm, that they're certainly not changing it to suit Ireland or to suit me or to suit anybody else. It's frankly disgraceful and nobody's looking for preferential treatment.
"But in a democratic society, presumably people who get elected, people who are publicly accountable, their materials shouldn't be blocked and blunted, whilst others on their phone, in their car randomly, it becomes like the most powerful, playground for that. And I think we have a problem with that.
“I'm not talking about curtailing anybody's freedom of speech, but there is a problem when political content from political parties and people who actually go before the electorate, when that is being stymied and the rest is allowed to go viral. And I think it's a real problem now in the public discourse.”
When asked if what had happened would make her think of stepping back from politics, Ms McDonald said “absolutely not. "Absolutely not for one second. If anything, it makes me all the more determined to be part of facing this toxic dynamic down with others.
“We cannot allow the toxic legacy of hate to win. We have to allow hope, constructive engagement, decency, all of the things that mark all of our communities, including Coolock, the good people of Coolock. That's the side that needs to win. And I am determined to be on that side of that winning team.”
