Fergus Finlay: We are not powerless against toxic social media. It's time to act

Conor McGregor's twisted rhetoric and the show Adolescence hit the headlines in the same week, showing just how mainstream toxic masculinity has become. We must act, writes Fergus Finlay

If we acquiesce to the poison of people like Conor McGregor, we then become complicit in the damage they do.

I’m not sure if I have the words to articulate how I’m feeling. I saw Conor McGregor lording it around the White House in Washington DC on our national day, and I felt horrified and betrayed in equal measure. This was — I’ll say it again — our national day, a day on which we celebrate with pride our growth as an independent nation. It was besmirched by watching a man, established in our courts to be a violent thug, celebrating himself in the Oval Office.

Our constitution declares that we are a “sovereign, independent, democratic state”. Article 9 of the Constitution says that “fidelity to the nation and loyalty to the state are fundamental political duties of all citizens”. McGregor shows fidelity to nothing and loyalty only to himself.