The Social Democrats Political Director Anne-Marie McNally has hit out at what she has said are disturbing violent images of children being used outside Leinster House by members of Anti-Choice lobby groups. Ms McNally said it was profoundly unfair that Leinster House staff have to face such disturbing images while going about the course of their daily work.
Ms McNally said there is an increasing awareness among staff in Leinster House that they are being subjected to a litany of abusive and offensive communications many of which contain graphic violent imagery and she said that while there is no way to stop people posting stuff into TDs offices there should be some restrictions on what kind of images can be displayed using the gates of a workplace.
Ms McNally said:
“Today I was forced to walk past a huge banner depicting the bloodied and bruised face of a child around 9 years old who had sustained a beating. The image was hugely disturbing in any context – when is it to be considered normal to have to confront what can only be described as a crime scene image of a beaten child? To have to face this just to get in the gate to my job is simply not acceptable.”
“I asked the Garda on duty at Leinster House and was informed that a High Court ruling had determined that the images used by this particular group are not considered to be offensive. I hugely disagree. I believe that not only is the image strung across the gates of Leinster House hugely offensive, it is also potentially deeply upsetting for many and it is not something that staff members going to work should have to deal with.”
“Workers should have a reasonable expectation that they can come and go in the immediate vicinity of their workplace without being confronted by such graphic depictions of violence and similarly the many groups of young school children who visit Leinster House daily, or the passers-by on buses, in cars or simply walking along the street should not be subjected to these images either.”
ENDS
7 February 2018