Monaghan County Councillor, Aoife McCooey has spoken out this week about the rise in aggressive and abusive behaviour that is being levelled at politicians across the country.
Both Minister of State Anne Rabbitt and Deputy Ciaran Cannon were subject to public humiliation in Galway last week when bags of cow dung were thrown at them during an event in Gort.
In the aftermath of that incident, Gardai issued measures that politicians can take to ensure their safety while engaging in Constituency work or in the public domain. Speaking to Northern Sound, Cllr McCooey says it's unacceptable that politicians in Ireland now find themselves in a situation where they have to take safety measures because of violence and abuse.
She added that there is no room in a democratic society for this type of behaviour. "Politicians are just people and if we want more people in politics; more diversity, more young people, more women, we can't have the fear of violence as a barrier to that.
"Therefore, it is vitally important that we call this out," she added.
