Social media platforms ‘hunting grounds for the disgruntled’ - Tolan
The newly-elected Cathaoirleach of Meath County Council has hit out at the toxicity of social media, describing some of the platforms as “hunting grounds for the disgruntled” and putting public representatives in the firing line.
Cllr Sharon Tolan was speaking shortly after being elected chairperson at the annual general meeting of the council where she and her Fine Gael colleague, Cllr Suzanne Jamal was elected Leas Cathaoirleach. It is eight years since a woman – Fine Gael Cllr Maria Murphy – held the post of chairperson.
Eleven members of Fine Gael, nine members of Fianna Fail and one social Democrat councillor have formed a pact to control the council for the next five years. The new arrangement also means that women will be in the top position of the council for the first three years – next year Fianna Fail will nominate Cllr Aisling Dempsey and in the third year, Fine Gael will propose the name of Cllr Sarah Reilly.
The annual general meeting of the county council was held in the restaurant area of the council HQ, Buvinda House. Members had to be present in person for this meeting and attendance by zoom was excluded. The only absentee was Independent Cllr Joe Bonner who does not participate in the horse-trading that normally follows local elections, eschewing all positions over the next five years.
One interesting development at this year’s annual general meeting was how the Independent group of nine councillors teamed up with the six Sinn Fein councillors to get nominees onto various committees of the council.
In her first address to the council as Cathaoirleach, Cllr Tolan said that it was “the honour of a lifetime” to be elected to the position. She thanked her Fine Gael colleagues for their support and guidance over the 10 years since she was first elected, and the coalition partners for their support on the first day of the new council term.
She said that it was a “shocking” fact that it had been eight years since a woman had held the role of Cathaoirleach. It was a proud moment for her to follow in the footsteps of Cllr Maria Murphy who held the post in 2016.
“I have always been a firm believer in Billie Jean King’s phrase ‘you have to see it to be it’, whether that’s in sport, business, boardrooms, or politics, girls are inspired by seeing women participate”.
She was delighted that in her own Fine Gael group there were now six women and five men. It was her hope that her own participation in politics over 10 years had played some part in inspiring more women to run in the most recent local elections – even to target her seat!
She promised to be a role model throughout her tenure as Cathaoirleach and beyond and to represent the council and county with distinction.
Two specific issues came up continuously when she canvassed in the run-up to the election. Whether it was a housing estate, a rural or main road, virtually everyone had concerns about road safety. Over the next five years the council would have the responsibility of reducing speed limits across the county. She wanted the councillors to do all they could to ensure that roads in Meath were as safe as they possibly be for everyone.
Cllr Tolan said another issue raised frequently with her was the amount of toxic social media targeted at her personally. “It took me by surprise that almost everyone in my community was aware of it, even on the day of the count one journalist mentioned it”.
She said she used social media a lot and found it a very useful tool to get information out to people and to promote the work that councillors did.
“Unfortunately, over the last 10 years some social media platforms have become hunting grounds for the disgruntled and it’s us politicians who are on the receiving end. Now, I don’t mean criticism – I have no issue with critical thinkers and I love a good debate but I’m talking about name calling, nastiness, cruelty, maliciousness.
“Apart from my mother, I am the strongest woman that I know but I can honestly tell you that there have been days when I felt sick with dread picking up my phone to check my notifications and messages. And I know I’m not the only one who has felt this way”.
As elected representatives they were acutely aware of the responsibilities they had to be leaders in their communities and she wanted all councillors to join her in being positive social media leaders during their term of office. She wanted them to “stand up to bullies” and eradicate nasty trolling for everyone.