Leitrim councillor condemns ‘vile, sectarian, and abusive’ rhetoric online during presidential election

Leitrim councillor Enda McGloin has condemned the abusive rhetoric directed at Heather Humphreys during the recent presidential campaign.

The campaign proved to be a disappointing one for Fine Gael, as Humphreys took 29.46% of the vote, losing out to Independent candidate Catherine Connolly, who won the election in a landslide with 59.46%.

“I just feel sorry for Heather. It was a bruising campaign - some of the rhetoric on social media was quite vile, sectarian, and abusive. It’s shocking, actually,” the Fine Gael councillor told Shannonside earlier this week.

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Fine Gael themselves were accused of launching a smear campaign against Catherine Connolly after publishing a political video in which they accused the Galway West TD of hypocrisy.

“That is the nature, it seems now, of electoral campaigns - which I think is sad. We can all talk about different means of smear campaigns, but ultimately, the commentary on social media is something in this country that we are going to have to look at.”

The presidential election was also a disappointment for Fine Gael’s partners in government, Fianna Fáil, as their candidate Jim Gavin dropped out of the race following a scandal regarding €3,300 he owed to a former tenant.

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