MLAs voice concern over receiving abuse

MLAs voice concern over receiving abuse

2 April 2025

THREE South Down MLAs are among a number of politicians who have publicly revealed the level of abuse they receive for doing their job.

The revelation from Cathy Mason, Sinead Ennis and Colin McGrath comes after First Minister Michelle O’Neill called online abuse targeting DUP MP Carla Lockhart “disgraceful and unacceptable”.

An Electoral Commission survey on the 2024 UK general election found that many candidates continue to experience unacceptable levels of intimidation and harassment.

Some Stormont politicians and their children have been subjected to death and rape threats, while others have been physically attacked in their offices or on the street. And some are even avoiding parts of their own constituency for fear of attack or verbal abuse.

A group of leaders from the Centre for Democracy and Peace’s Fellowship Programme have called for action to tackle the abuse and, backed by the Electoral Commission, have called for legislative change to strengthen protection for candidates and education initiatives to promote more respectful political discourse.

Some members of the Assembly said if they had realised the scale of abuse they would face then they would never have stood for election, with the local MLAs among a group who have spoken to BBC NI’s The View, detailing their experiences of harassment and abuse.

Mrs Mason said she has received numerous sexually explicit photographs on social media.

“I’ve actually had sexually threatening messages sent to me on social media, privately and also publicly,” the Sinn Fein MLA told the BBC.

“That’s a real concern of mine now that my daughter is at the age where she’s on social media too. How do I shield her from that?”

Mrs Mason also revealed she has received abuse and threatening, intimidating remarks when she’s been out and about in public with her family as well.

“I take much more consideration at what I actually bring my family along to, so as to protect them from that abuse as well,” she added.

Her fellow Sinn Fein MLA Sinead Ennis revealed she’s been followed while out shopping with her children. 

“I’ve had them abuse me when I’ve been on the street with my children and I’ve had to explain to my children when they ask: ‘Why is that person angry?

“I have been spat at, I’ve been verbally abused and I’ve been physically abused in my constituency office,” she said.

And Ms Ennis revealed that a man threatened to kill her on multiple occasions at her constituency office and, on one occasion, threatening to burn the office down with her in it.

“Unfortunately, I’ve resigned myself to the fact that on occasion, I might be susceptible to these kinds of attack, which is pretty depressing,” she added.

Mr McGrath described the level of online abuse he gets as “regular”.

The SDLP man continued: “It can often be under just about every post that’s put up. You’re called lazy, you get all sorts of names, and basically that the work that you do is rubbish, especially around something as divisive as Covid. 

“People got very, very exercised about various opinions and that, for me, included being squared up to in the street because of the decisions that we were taking.”

Mr McGrath added: “It does make you think differently about how you go about your daily life and i make sure whenever I go in through the door of my house that it is locked immediately behind me.”