THE SISTER OF murdered UK politician Jo Cox has said the role of media needs to be examined in the wake of events like the protest held outside Leinster House on Wednesday.
Speaking to Colm Ó’ Mongáin on RTÉ Radio 1 earlier today, Kim Leadbeater said scenes like those seen outside the Dáil this week, when a group of protesters including members of the far-right brought a mock gallows to Leinster House, are “deeply depressing, infuriating and really upsetting”.
She added that such scenes are “not acceptable”.
Leadbeater, whose sister the Labour MP Jo Cox was murdered in 2016, is now a member of parliament in the UK following her election in 2021.
Following Wednesday’s protest, during which 13 people were arrested, Green TD for Waterford Marc Ó Cathasaigh, warned in a tweet of a possible “Jo Cox moment” in Ireland.
“Do we imagine we’re far from a Jo Cox moment? We’ve pretended to ourselves that we’re immune to this kind of dangerous polarisation in this country. We are not,” he said.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1 today, Leadbeater said that a “careful think” is needed on what we want our politics to look like.
“We seem to have lost the skill and the art of having robust, passionate debate on really important topics without it descending into aggression, and sadly in some cases, violence,” she said.
“We’ve had two members of parliament murdered in England in the last few years and all it takes is for one individual, who cannot differentiate between shouting and protesting, to take that to the whole other level.
“And to have a set of gallows being wheeled through the streets with people’s faces on it, I just think is deeply disturbing.
“And we’ve got no place for that I don’t think in a respectful democracy,” Leadbeater said.
When asked how politicians can be kept safe while at the same time allowing them to continue to engage with their community, the MP said that the role of the media needs to be looked at in this context.
“The media tends to cover the most volatile things and the most divisive subjects. I talk a lot in the UK Parliament – we don’t talk enough about the cross party work that goes on, we don’t talk enough about the decent debates and the respectful debates that take place day in and day out.
“We’ve also got to look at social media,” she said.
Leadbeater also raised the issue of loneliness and social isolation and said that this can lead to negative behaviours like antisocial behavior or criminal activity or in the worst case scenario, getting drawn “towards the extremes”.
“Whichever extremes they might be,” she said.
Leadbeater added: “So I think the more we can do to build well connected communities and a society where everybody has a sense of identity and belonging, the better that is on lots of different levels.”
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