Mayor of Galway reports death threats to Gardaí
From this week's Galway City Tribune - The Mayor of Galway is temporarily stepping back from public life – after revealing that he has been the target of a series of anonymous death threats against him and his family.
Cllr Mike Cubbard said that the continuous abuse – by post and on social media – has caused him to reconsider why he should continue in political office at all.
“When I came home after this latest letter last week, I genuinely had heart palpitations and I just wondered why I even bothered. I’ve gone to schools across this city trying to encourage kids to get involved in local democracy – but now I just think why would they?” he said.
The Independent councillor had gone public on social media to highlight the abuse – and he also posted one of the death threat notes sent to him.
“We will get ye,” it warned. “We will burn ye. We will get Cobbard [sic]. Ye lying pigs. Cobbard pig.”
On top of the hand-written death threats, he was also the target of an anonymous tweet, stating that he ‘needed to be tied to a rock and put to the bottom of the Corrib’.
He also expressed disappointment with the response of Gardaí to the threats made against him – and from Galway’s Oireachtas members to whom he wrote, asking for legislation on social media in relation to anonymous posts.This is a shortened preview version of this article. To read the rest of the story, see this week's Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.