Coppinger received online death threats after declining to answer Gript reporter’s question

Ruth Coppinger has reported online threats to gardaí after a press event dispute involving Gript led to a wave of abuse

People Before Profit TD Ruth Coppinger has reported the death threat to gardaí. Picture: Leah Farrell/ RollingNews.ie

An online threat made against People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger after she declined to answer a question at a press briefing has been reported to gardaí.

The Dublin West TD last week declined to answer  a question from the website Gript on the Leinster House plinth, saying she did not feel the website "acts in good faith", prompting a number of journalists to walk away from the event in protest.

After the issue was publicised online, Ms Coppinger said she saw "a deluge of hate-filled, vile, and misogynistic messages and threats on social media".

"Some were death threats and necessitated reporting to gardaí. All referenced the press event, and some used the fact that two journalists had backed up Gript," she added.

In a now-deleted post on X, former MMA fighter Conor McGregor aimed personal insults at both Ms Coppinger and Paul Murphy, with Ms Coppinger saying another post had been reported to gardaí.

"I had to report to gardaí a video from a man with a history of death threats to politicians. The video was taken outside the home of a political figure and stated the intent to visit Ruth and TDs and 'make them answer questions'."

Ms Coppinger said Gript's reporter, Ben Scallan, who was a candidate in the 2020 general election for the far-right Irish Freedom Party, did not have an Oireachtas press pass and had been signed in as a guest of other political parties.

"Essentially, this amounts to guests of one political party targeting another party, which Gript is clearly doing to socialist TDs.”

However, Áontú said in a statement the charge was "untrue" and "a bizarre conspiracy theory".

"PBP issued a press release today suggesting Aontú sign Gript in as a guest of our political party for the purposes of asking difficult questions of them. This is not true. We only sign journalists in very rarely if they are seeking a one-on-one interview with Aontú representatives. 

"The bizarre conspiracy theory being peddled by PBP on social media and in press statements amounts to misinformation. It is entirely untrue."

In 2024, a man who was wrongly linked on social media to the Parnell Square attacks in Dublin the previous November began legal action against the online publication and its editor, John McGuirk.