TÁNAISTE SIMON HARRIS has said last year he experienced a continuous sustained pattern of abuse online which made him consider his future in politics. 

Speaking to The Journal’s The Candidate podcast, he said in particular when threats were made to harm his children, he considered whether he should step away. 

You get to the point where you have to decide what’s your first duty? And your first duty and your responsibility is to your kids. And I just didn’t know what else to do.

“Again, these are all kind of judgment calls, because generally you just suck it up and just shut up.

“But I just decided on this occasion it needed to be called out in the hope that it would act as some form of a circuit breaker. Whether it has or hasn’t, I’m not sure,” he said.

• Listen to our full interview with Simon Harris here or wherever you get your podcasts

In December last year, Harris said a woman who threatened him online and who was sentenced to six months jail time, violated his family. 

In a victim impact statement from Harris, which was presented to the court, he said he wanted the individual before the court to understand the impact of her actions against his family.

Harris said he “thought long and hard” about giving a victim impact statement in court. 

‘I wanted the person who threatened to kill my children to consider a question’

“I wanted the person who threatened to kill my children, I wanted them to consider a question, and the question was: when you type that message and press send, what’s going through your mind?

“Do you genuinely intend to carry out the threat? Always a possibility. Do you genuinely hope it’ll motivate or inspire somebody else to carry out the threat? Always a possibility. Lone wolves and that sort of stuff. Somebody sees that and goes, ‘oh yeah’.

“Or do you just not think at all? Do you just not think of the effective bomb that goes off in someone’s house when you press send? And I worry about that,” he said. 

The Tánaiste said he believes he needed to put a spotlight on the issue, stating that his experience is not unique. 

While he said he is a high-profile political leader, other politicians get similar abuse, with Harris stating that women in particular receive “disgusting and misogynistic comments”. 

However, he said when the online threats were made against his family, it elevated his concerns. 

When they came for my children, it brought it into an entirely new space.

Harris said it is time it is called out for what it is, stating that he is concerned how oftentimes it is described as “online abuse”.

The Tánaiste said they are not “online threats, they’re just threats”

“They’re just threats to kill you or harm your children or damage your family, they’re just threats, and where they’re made is kind of less relevant to me”.

The Fine Gael leader said he worries a lot about where online discourse is going, stating that there’s a coarseness now in political discourse, in particular.

• Listen to our full interview with Simon Harris here or wherever you get your podcasts