A DUBLIN CITY councillor who is visually impaired said he was verbally
abused while returning from a community meeting yesterday afternoon.
Labour Party councillor for Cabra-Glasnevin Declan Meenagh said he had
gotten off the Luas in Cabra and was walking down Broombridge Road when
someone shouted at him.
I was just having a typical busy day as a councillor, work in the morning,
going into a community group meeting in the afternoon, walking home from the
Luas stop in Cabra, he said.
On Broombridge Road and literally from the guy in front of me, the first
thing I heard is look at this mad c**t behind me pretending to be blind.
And I think I heard two people laughing on the other side of the road.
He said he did not recognise the voice or the man, and was only able to
identify that he was wearing dark clothing.
Unfortunately every politician has had these people, he said.
What they do is theyre looking for attention and you dont give it to them,
you just go silent and you walk on which is what I did.
Meenagh who only has 5% vision said he continued walking and did not
engage with the people who were there.
I use a cane to get around. I mean Im not exaggerating, if I didnt use a
cane I would be dead, he said.
Because my sight is so bad its like looking through a straw wrapped in
clingfilm is what sight I have.
Meenagh has been a councillor since 2020, and said that in general he has
positive interactions with people in his local area.
However, he said that recently there has been an increase in the amount of
verbal abuse he and other elected representatives receive, particularly
online, but also while they are out working.
Unfortunately this trend of threats and nastiness is just getting worse,
he said.
At the end of the day [yesterday], I was resolute that I wouldnt but I did
pause when I left the house.
I did pause last night and this morning when I left the house
I heard
something near me and was a bit uneasy with it today. This has consequences.
A recent report from the Association of Irish Local Government (AILG), the
representative body for councillors, surveyed over 200 councillors in
relation to harassment and abuse they have received.
The report found that 63% had experienced some form of threat, intimidation
or harassment between April 2021 and September 2023. Just under 40% had
experienced threats on social media, a drop on the previous survey.
Meenagh said he did not report the incident to the gardaí. While he was
shaken after it, he said incidents like this were generally rare.
It is rare and generally people are great. I just want to knock it on the
head but hopefully it wont happen again, he said.
The Journal.
