{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/67c5d757b48a8f157c1f9076/699837d37012ce5376fa9843?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Louth Councillors Told Abuse of Politicians Predominantly Aimed at Females -20/02/2026","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/67c5d757b48a8f157c1f9076/1771582519780-97f695cc-f4da-4ae6-834c-261d3fb6300f.jpeg?height=200","description":"<p>Abuse received by politicians is predominantly aimed at women, Louth councillors have been told.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Councillors were told during a presentation by the Association of Irish Local Government (AILG) that all political parties are facing issues getting people to run in the next local and general elections.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>A spokesperson for AILG said parties are particularly struggling to recruit female candidates as online abuse is \"predominantly leaning towards females\".&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Mayor of Drogheda, Cllr Michelle Hall said she had been subjected to \"a lot of online abuse\" which she said was \"very difficult to deal with\".&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Mayor Hall said receiving online abuse was a \"normal occurrence\" and criticised social media companies saying they had \"refused to work\" with her in an effort to take abusive posts off their platforms.</p><p><br></p><p>Mayor Hall joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this. </p><p><br></p><p><br></p>","author_name":"lmfm "}