Tánaiste Simon Harris hits back at social media user who wished him dead
Tanaiste Simon HarrisTánaiste Simon Harris has hit out at a social media user who posted a death wish against him.The Fine Gael leader has been the subject of multiple threats that have been investigated by gardaí over recent months. On X, formerly Twitter, Mr Harris responded to a post from an anonymous user saying: "Wish I was reading it was you simple Simon was dead."The Tánaiste fired back, replying: "I don't know you. I don't know anything about you. But this toxicity, this nastiness, this vile is becoming all too frequent." This follows an incident a fortnight ago when a woman faced charges for making threats against Mr Harris and his family, reports the Irish Mirror.Sandra Barry, 40, with an address at Tor an Ri in Balgaddy, Lucan in Dublin, appeared at the Criminal Courts of Justice charged with one offence of threatening or grossly offensive communication to Mr Harris with intent to cause harm on August 30.Sandra Barry, 40, with an address at Tor an Ri in Balgaddy, Lucan in Dublin, leaves the Criminal Courts of Justice, Dublin.(Image: Brian Lawless/PA Wire)Detective Garda Richard Markey told the court that the messages sent on social media were of a "threatening nature to the injured party, threatening violence towards himself or his family".In October, a man admitted guilt to making an online threat to kill or cause serious harm to the Tánaiste and his family. Patrick Grealish (48), with an address at Garraí An Choirce in Leitir Mealláin, pleaded guilty to making the threats to Mr Harris and his family in August of last year.In May and June last year, masked individuals posing as anti-immigration protesters assembled outside Mr Harris' residence on two separate occasions. In September, after receiving online threats, the Tánaiste stated: "This weekend, I received direct threats targeting my family. As a father, I have very strong views and feelings on this as you can imagine. As a political leader, I find it unacceptable in every way."Let me be clear: threatening people - any person - is a crime. Threatening children is despicable. It is cowardice and it is a line that no decent society should tolerate being crossed."Join our Dublin Live breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive your daily dose of Dublin Live content.We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice .For all the latest news from Dublin and surrounding areas visit our homepage.
