Alison O'Connor: What are we going to do about increased threats to public figures?

No money is worth putting up with this sort of abuse and potential danger

Social Democrat TD Holly Cairns has revealed how she was left ‘absolutely terrified’ after a man repeatedly showed up at her home.

What’s going to be done about this? Not next week, or next month or by the end of the year. But now. Do we really want something truly awful to happen first where we go around afterwards saying: “It’s a terrible pity something wasn’t done.”

The issue at hand is the appalling abuse suffered by female politicians — the true details of which have emerged in all their awfulness in the past week. They point clearly towards a risk of something terrible happening to one of our elected representatives unless action is taken and fast.