Do Politicians and other public figures need extra protection from weirdos.

Holly Cairns is a fantastic politician. She's smart and a very effective communicator. Unfortunately, she has committed the cardinal sin of being a woman so she will forever be a magnet for abuse from a certain mouth breathing demographic in this country.

I wouldn’t go as far as agreeing Ms. Cairns is a fantastic politician, she’s not even been tested yet, unlike Helen McEntee whom we referred to earlier who’s been knocking it out of the park!

But I’d agree, being a woman in Irish politics does attract a different type of harassment and intimidation which isn’t the same as the kind of harassment, intimidation and intrusion into their personal lives which Leo for example has gotten in his time in office - the man can’t even go for a jog in peace.

But I would question the wisdom of whether extra security is necessary, or whether politicians should be arguing more in favour of equipping AGS with the resources to deal effectively with these fcuknuggets, and once the AGS are done with them, that the Courts and the judiciary have the resources to deal with them, rather than funding the installation of security measures on an individual basis which politicians would have to apply for only after they have already been the victim of harassment campaigns, such as the example given by Ms. Cairns where a man appeared multiple times at her front door -

Female politicians such as Social Democrats TD Holly Cairns and Sinn Féin TD Louise O’Reilly have both spoken out recently about having to install extra security in their homes. Ms O’Reilly said she placed extra locks in her home, as did Ms Cairns, who also installed CCTV and blinds. This came after threats to their homes and in Ms Cairns’s case, a man appearing multiple times at her front door. A number of other female TDs recently spoke to The Irish Times about being concerned for their safety in their constituency offices and at home.

https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/oireachtas/2023/01/25/politicians-could-get-up-to-5000-towards-security-costs/

One of the arguments against arming rank and file Gardaí with firearms is that it will encourage those who commit criminal offences to escalate. I would suggest that the same is true of increasing security around political and public figures - it attracts an even more dangerous and determined type of fcuknugget who is willing to take the risk of not being caught.

I don’t know how Cosgrave hasn’t been prosecuted either tbh, but one reason I can think of is that it would risk turning him into the martyr he appears to be so desperate to be regarded as.

Ricky Gervais is excellent talking about people on social media

And Ricky Gervais is nothing more than the more acceptable class of scumbag leading the online gang.

It comes down to one very simple question - should people have to turn their homes into prisons for themselves because scumbags who flout existing laws threaten their safety?

The answer to that is to target the scumbags, not to pretend that increasing security for some people will act as any sort of a deterrent to scumbags.

I didn’t see the programme you’re referring to but I’ll take your word for it, it’s not because of her ability to kiss babies that I evaluate her character and capacity as a politician. Personally I think the Family Courts bill is long overdue, and the overhauling of the legislation in relation to incitement to hatred, and the management of Covid restrictions, and of course the management of immigration issues.

The comparison was to Holly Cairns though, but I’d extend it to include comparisons to her predecessors such as Charlie McCreevy and Michael McDowell, neither of whom actually achieved anything positive in their tenure. Is she as good as Máire Geoghan-Quinn, Frances Fitzgerald and Nora Owen? Not yet, but she’s on the right track.

I also think Norma Foley deserves an honorary mention, I quite admire how she’s performed in office as the Minister for Education. She’s good, but fantastic would be stretching it, there’s always room for improvement.

Now, take someone who is struggling and doesn't have that experience - what will they do when they're reaching rock bottom and spot Leo Varadkar jogging down the street?

They’ll carry on minding their own business. Self-centred scumbags on the other hand, will have a multitude of excuses to justify their behaviour. The abuse hurled at politicians is precisely because those people are weirdos. Everyone gets frustrated, it doesn’t give anyone the right to ignore the laws which apply to everyone equally.

To answer your question though - no, Pat Kenny shouldn’t get more money to increase his security, Alan O’Brien should have found a more productive way of dealing with his issues, same goes for David McWilliams, instead of stealing a living from stirring up shìt.

I wouldn’t even bother asking for examples when the counter-argument begins with “You’re taking horsehìt”, it’s about the level I expect from those who appreciate Gervais’ unoriginal output.

Yes there are a small few people constantly posting quite extreme violent rhetoric on facebook, twitter and Telegram -

They don't have to be violent themselves. Their rhetoric will eventually inspire someone through stochastic terrorism.

It's not really about individual honesty.

People get sucked into supporting what others say.

Stochastic terrorism is a real phenomenon.

Noone is beyond influence so not really sure what your point is.

Nonethless, she's gonna be the first female Taoiseach.

Targeting someone's house is always wrong, their private lives should be private, it is like the worst of groups like the Red Army Faction types across Europe in the 70s.

That didn't end well then either. This will escalate till someone gets solidarity through the back of the head or burnt in the house.

TDs and all shades of politicians should be supported in this with whatever they need.

No, there’s plenty of people I don’t like, I don’t call them scumbags. I’m indifferent to Ricky Gervais though, he’s a scumbag either way, an acceptable scumbag leading the online gang.

It’s not? I was asked do I call everyone I don’t like a scumbag, as though I call Gervais a scumbag because I don’t like him. I don’t care for him either way - I don’t like him, I don’t dislike him. It’s his behaviour and his attitude towards others marks him out as a scumbag,

It’s the fact that people hold him in high regard makes him an acceptable as far as they’re concerned. I don’t don’t think his behaviour is acceptable, I think he encourages others to think their behaviour and their attitudes are acceptable. Thankfully, his reach is limited.

Any chance that you can stop posting horses**t as its posts like this that are bringing boards down? Your calling someone a scumbag and providing zero evidence. If your going to make disgusting remarks you need to back them up otherwise your posts are just trolling