Politicians and the growing threat of reputational damage from hacks
by Caoimhín Rowland
Social media is a huge part of our lives and for politicians, it’s no different.
Campaigns can be won or lost on a grain of rice and the ability to capture voters’ attention online can be crucial in swaying the masses' opinion at the ballot box.
Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan was in court on September 4 over an alleged hack from a former trusted political aide.
Diarmuid Hayes is the man accused of logging into the Roscommon MEP’s account and tweeting as if he were the Castlerea man about Saoirse McHugh.
It is alleged that the MEP’s former assistant, who is to go on trial in Brussels, intentionally misspelt Saoirse’s name as Sapirse to imply the late-night tweet came from a drunken Ming in Brussels and that he tried to make it seem like Ming confused Twitter for the Google search bar.
Mr. Hayes has not yet entered a plea.
Flanagan has expressed his relief, saying a hearing would clear his name.
It is alleged that the tweet was sent from Brussels while Ming was sitting at home in Ireland.
Whatever the outcome, the saga shows what many business owners unfortunately know - the greatest threat to smooth operations often comes from a disgruntled ex-employee.
Ming has been in the firing line too for hiring family members to run his campaigns and support his work in Brussels. A fact that makes much more sense.
For Saoirse McHugh, an earnest activist who ran close to getting elected here in Mayo in 2020, I can only imagine the unnecessary anguish it caused.
Rumours in the aftermath of the 2020 ballot placed McHugh as a potential successor to Ming as a possible co-optee.
I wonder with Ming set to run once more and with his name cleared would this hypothesis come closer to reality after June’s election.
Lisa Chambers confirmed her intention to run as an MEP in this constituency after the Boundary Commission released its report.
Her name was brought up on the Irish Times politics podcast last week, almost as if she was a dead cert to be the next leader of Fianna Fáil.
“She will almost certainly have to be a TD to be leader and Mayo getting an extra TD makes that more likely,” Pat Leahy of the Irish Times stated.
I had to replay the podcast to make sure I heard it right.
Lisa Chambers, as leader of the Seanad, is unfortunately for her in the doldrums politically. Her move to Brussels if elected would only cement her position on the fringes of the party.
Chambers too had an unfortunate week on the Digi sphere.
A malicious virus attacked her Facebook and Instagram pages, hacking her account and publishing advertisements which included a fictitious conversation with Virgin Media presenter Clare Brock.
The headline from the scam artists involved a mocked-up RTÉ News article and a truly phenomenal fake news headline ‘The Irish National Bank is suing Lisa Chambers because of her good tip on how every Irish person can become really rich’.
That pesky Irish National Bank is up to no good like always, why won’t they let us common folk get rich quick like they have?
Other gems included a picture of Lisa Chambers with the caption ‘I didn’t notice my mic was on, could this be the end of my career’.
The prescient hacker published such falsehoods days before Tory Education Secretary Gillian Keegan’s infamous hot mic moment on ITV News.
Issues regarding school walls may not be in the Irish news agenda but lessons on the perils of social media for politicians are vital.
Hacks are becoming more common, trust is vital for the smooth running of operations and as ever, for candidates the biggest threat to their campaign and eventual success more often than not can come from within.