A TD has revealed the contents of a vile message which forced her to quit Facebook.
Fianna Fail’s Mary Butler criticised the toxic elements of social media as she divulged details of abuse she suffered at the hands of nasty trolls.
The Minister for Mental Health said she had no regrets about leaving the online platform after being encouraged to kill herself on the eve of the 2020 general election.
She told KCLR Radio: “I got a post at 10 past 12 at night, I was gone to bed.
“My daughter Jane was posting some stuff for me... she got the information first.
“Basically what it said was, ‘You fat c***, go to the shed and bring a rope with you’. That is the worst I ever got and that person, who happened to be a father of three girls himself, put it on Facebook for all to see.
“He did not try to hide it, did not sent it by private message. My daughter tried to take my phone to delete it before I saw it.
“I stayed up till four in the morning trying to calm my daughter who got so upset over it.”
Minister Butler, a mother of three, left Facebook in February of last year but said the notion that women in politics are easy fodder for trolls remains.
She said: “I have no problem with constructive criticism but there is a narrative now that you can have a pile-on.
“There is an awful keyboard warrior mentality at the moment and it’s especially focused on women.
“I had to leave Facebook because of that horrendous online abuse.”
The Waterford TD also hit out at a newspaper column two weeks ago which took politicians to task over their appearance rather than their work record.
Having been criticised for wearing a bright orange suit to a party think-in, she added: “I love that bright orange suit and I will continue to wear it.”
