Gender equality in politics is a perennial topic for often hand-wringing discussion. Recently, we have seen the issue brought to the fore by a lack of balance in appointments to the Cabinet, where there was a reduction from four senior women ministers to three.
This week we reveal the obscene attack perpetrated on high-profile female candidate Gráinne Seoige, who unsuccessfully ran for Fianna Fáil in last year's general election. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) to bolster a vile assault on Ms Seoige's dignity, presumably in an attempt to damage her politically, is beyond the pale.
While the use of this technology is perhaps novel, the intentions and motivations behind it are old and well-worn. The underlying misogyny this episode reveals is an extreme example of the issues female politicians face on an ongoing basis, and it shows just how horrific the obstacles can be.
In recent years, we have seen a massive rise not only in disgraceful name-calling of women who choose to run for office but also threats of sexual violence and even death.
No one should be subjected to such obscenity, and while some social media platforms are quick to act in removing this material, others outrageously claim that this is freedom of speech and does not contravene their codes of practice.
In a letter to Fianna Fáil general secretary Seán Dorgan, Grainne tackles this irresponsibility and writes about a desire to use the episode to better educate female politicians as to what they might face if they decide to enter public life. Her words are worth remembering.
'The criminal investigation into the circulation of the AI-generated pornographic image of myself continues, and I would like to update you on this but also to seek your help on this issue,' she writes, 'so it doesn't happen to any future female candidates but also, so it doesn't continue to happen to young Irish girls and women, especially when social media platforms continue to allow those who generate these extremely damaging images to do so with not only impunity but their fulsome protection and, likewise, those who share the images.
'As someone who has experienced this firsthand, to me it seems the current law isn't fit for purpose.'
Given the advent of this generative technology at our fingertips, Grainne is a classy response, and speaks well of her sense of duty, as she seeks to stop this happening not just to herself but to all women.
But the reality is that until the Government takes the issue of gender equality seriously until more female politicians are in office and hold the levers of power themselves, until society realises that this is not a female issue but has whole-of-society benefits, episodes such as this one will, unfortunately, continue to happen.
This one at least is being investigated by the Garda Síochána, but there are many instances every day on social media where female politicians, and women in general, are trolled and totally abused by faceless keyboard warriors.
If we want a society that values the perspective that female politicians bring to policy decisions, we need to tackle situations like this head-on. We need to make it abundantly clear that such cowardly dirty tricks have no place in Irish politics or society.
