A couple who appeared in an ad for Lidl have revealed they've been forced to leave Ireland after receiving a death threat.
Fiona Ryan, 33, her partner Jonathan Mathis, 32, and their toddler son were targeted by vicious trolls after taking part in the promotion.
Fiona, from Co Meath, Jonathan, who was born in Brazil and grew up in the UK, and their son Jonah, were featured in a TV and on a billboard ad for the supermarket chain earlier this year.
The couple told Ryan Tubridy on Friday's Late Late Show that they moving to England as they are in fear for their safety and that of their son.
During the show, Ryan read out a Twitter message posted by former Irish journalist Gemma O'Doherty on September 7.
It read: "German dump @lidl_ireland gaslighting the Irish people with their multicultural version of ‘The Ryans’. Kidding no-one! Resist the Great Replacement wherever you can by giving this kip a wide berth. #ShopIrish #BuyIrish.”
The next day, Fiona was contacted by the ad agency who informed her of the tweet and comments that accompanied it.
Fiona said:"The reason we felt like we needed to leave was actually because last week we received a death threat, so it gets a bit scary.
"It's directed at Jonah as well. They're talking about harming and death to my partner and my child. So I'm not going to stay in a country that this is allowed."
The couple reported the abuse to the gardai but they were told it was a "civil matter".
In order to report the abuse as a hate crime, Fiona revealed she had to read the individual social media posts and screenshot them.
She said: "No one should be subjected to that stuff".
Fiona subsequently reported a hate crime to gardai but their case has yet to be assigned an investigating officer.
She also revealed people even tried to hack their social media accounts.
She said: “It was all over Facebook and Twitter, people were trying to get into our accounts, that kind of thing and just saying whatever they want.
“The comments came in mainly through Twitter but then there was quite a lot of strong ones on Facebook. That resulted in a message coming through about the threats and stuff like that," she said.
Meanwhile, Jonathan said he had been exposed to racial abuse his whole life.
He told Ryan: "It is probably once every year or two, someone will say something hateful towards me because of my skin colour which is obviously something I cannot do anything about but these people do not care. There are not interested in logic or reasoning. They are just filled with hate".
