Kelly seeks probe into Twitter message

LABOUR MEP Alan Kelly has asked Gardaí to investigate how his official account on Twitter might have been hacked after it sent out a deeply offensive anti-Traveller message.

Last month, the Irish Examiner revealed the Ireland South representative’s party account on the popular social networking site had released a derogatory message about the Travelling community. The comment, which read “Just got stopped by a pikey, scuse me, sir, ya haven’t seen a black mare and a white pony go by ave ya? Err no, sorry” and sent on a Sunday evening, led to a string of complaints from other Twitter users, many of whom were Mr Kelly’s then 198 online “followers”.

The note was taken down within an hour, with the politician posting a second message to say his site had been “compromised”.

However, Traveller representative group Pavee Point said it would wait for evidence to confirm the account had been hacked.

As a result of the furore, in recent days representatives of Mr Kelly have contacted Nenagh Garda Station to investigate the incident. They are seeking to find out how the account was hacked, who was involved and what can be done to prevent such a situation recurring.

Tipperary native Mr Kelly, who describes his Twitter account as “a strong voice for Munster in Europe”, has not sent a message on the social networking site since the incident last month.

The online communications phenomenon has become increasingly popular among politicians who can use the site to interact directly with voters. Among the most high-profile political Twitter users are US President Barack Obama, current and former British prime ministers David Cameron and Gordon Brown, and almost all TDs.

However, while the direct-access online medium has benefited some profiles, it has damaged others, including British Labour candidate Stuart MacLennan, who was sacked last month after he referred to old-age pensioners as “coffin dodgers” and described a woman as a “boot”.