INDEPENDENT SENATOR EILEEN Flynn has almost become accustomed to being the target of online abuse in Ireland, and abroad, but she said that comments about her made on X in the past week have been the worst yet.

“I’ve never experienced hate like it,” she told The Journal, after a video of remarks she made in the Seanad about the recent fuel protests went viral in certain circles online on Wednesday. 

In the Seanad contribution, Flynn had said she would not attend any protests where the Irish flag was being flown because it has become a symbol exploited by members of the far right, who sought to hijack the fuel protests last week.

She told The Journal the Irish far right and other online agitators “punch down” on minority communities. 

“They don’t stand for the Ireland we fought for 100 years ago and we’re still fighting for today,” Flynn said.

“I will not stand by when our flag is being used to promote hatred, division and anti-migrant remarks. For me, the flag means peace, unity and justice and equality.”

Flynn made history when she became the first woman from the Traveller community to sit in the upper house. Previously a community development worker with the National Traveller Women’s Forum, she was among 11 new senators nominated by Micheál Martin after he became Taoiseach for the first time in the summer of 2020. 

She was re-elected to the role, on the Seanad’s Administrative Panel, early last year.

Flynn grew up on a halting site in Dublin, and her background has been a focus of those posting racist and derogatory comments about her online. 

Many of the comments posted about Flynn this week cast her as unfit and unqualified to be a senator, with a number of them referring to her as a “DEI hire”, meaning she only got the role because of her background and not based on merit. DEI stands for diversity, equity and inclusion.

Others cast her as “anti-Irish” because of her support for immigrants. Some also falsely claimed she had never won an election.

Other comments insulted her intelligence and questioned her mental wellbeing, using terms like “deranged” and “incoherent”. One commenter said they did not believe Flynn has “the intellectual faculties to have passed a degree course in Maynooth”.

Flynn graduated from Maynooth University with a BA in community and youth work in 2017. 

Speaking of some of the posters this week, she said: “They punch down on communities and individuals. It’s unfortunate that I’m their punchbag.”

Her support for immigrants, particularly those working in healthcare, has drawn the attention of Ireland’s extremists and anti-immigration commentators before. 

“I stand for social justice and equality,” she said.

“That includes migrants. I can’t be a Traveller and fight for equality just for Travellers.” 

Abusive comments 

As an Irish Traveller, she said her accent, pronunciation and vocabulary are often mocked by racists online. 

Flynn said she is not going to change the way she speaks to appease those who use that to demean her and her intelligence. 

“I don’t give two damns about the English dictionary. I’m not going to change the way I speak,” she said, adding that a lot of the abusive comments she gets from people on social media, including in direct messages, also focus on her appearance, a common experience for female politicians in particular. 

Most of the abusive comments were posted on X (formerly Twitter) by users who routinely post anti-immigration content. Some right-wing influencer accounts abroad also picked up on Flynn’s comments. 

Flynn deleted her X account around three months ago, she said, for two reasons. Firstly, the hateful comments, but also because of “what Twitter stands for” since it was bought by South African-American billionaire Elon Musk. 

Flynn pointed out that several of those who have criticised her online have run in elections themselves without success. She said that her current role and their failures speak for themselves. 

“These all ran for elections. At least I got in. At least I’m in Leinster House,” she said.

One of those failed election candidates is Niall McConnell, who ran for a Dáil seat in Donegal in the 2020 general election, as well as contesting the local and general elections in 2025. 

McConnell is the leader of the anti-immigration group Síol na hÉireann and his misleading claims about a so-called “mega mosque” in Letterkenny were debunked by The Journal FactCheck earlier this year. 

Ben Scallan, who is now a reporter with the conservative media website Gript, was amongst those making claims and comments about Flynn online.

Scallan ran as a candidate in the 2020 general election as a member of the Irish Freedom Party in Dublin Bay South, picking up 0.6% of the vote share.

The party’s leader, Hermann Kelly, has promoted the ‘Great Replacement’ conspiracy theory, whose adherents believe the white populations of Europe are being systematically wiped out through migration orchestrated by national and global elites.

The Party’s X profile recently said the government’s policy is “RIP”, meaning “Replacement, Invasion, Plantation of Ireland”. 

Scallan wrote on X this week: “Why do we all have to collectively lie and pretend this individual is qualified to be a legislator?”

When another X user replied and pointed out Flynn’s track record as an advocate for various social justice and workers’ rights causes, Scallan said: “She was gifted a free seat by the Taoiseach to promote things the Government already supports.” 

Other comments on X referred to Flynn as a “DEI hire”, meaning someone given a job because of their minority background rather than merit. It’s a term that has been imported from conservative political rhetoric in the United States, especially under the administration of President Donald Trump. 

“Ben is a failed politician. At least I got a seat. Look at me, I’m thriving, I’m doing so well,” Flynn said. The senator noted that she only narrowly lost out on being elected in 2020, before securing her seat once again in the election last year.

Why do we all have to collectively lie and pretend this individual is qualified to be a legislator? https://t.co/dlHdOZ5jmv

— Ben Scallan 🇮🇪 (@Ben_Scallan) April 15, 2026

Asked if the comments she receives get to her, Flynn said she is not afraid of the far right or others who have been abusing her online, but that she has referred some threatening direct messages to An Garda Síochána.

She was unable to share those messages because they are now a matter for the Gardaí, but one more recent Instagram message she shared with The Journal read: “You’re a stupid c*nt! Saying you’re afraid of the flag? Get fucked c*nt and may you get what you deserve.” 

Flynn said she has received thousands of abusive messages since becoming a senator, most of which come from Irish men.

“Real Irish men don’t go around abusing women,” she concluded.