Councillor told to ‘put up or shut up’ amid claims staff of national politicians are operating anonymous accounts online
Wexford PeopleA Wexford councillor who claimed employees of national politicians are behind anonymous online accounts has been told to “put up or shut up” by Labour TD George Lawlor.
At the January meeting of Wexford County Council (WCC), independent councillor Michael Sheehan submitted a motion he which he called upon the government to outlaw the use of anonymous accounts and profiles on social media.
“Some of them may just be people with nothing better to do, but others may be employees of national politicians,” he said of the accounts.
“The government says it is going to outlaw these accounts; we need to see these guidelines immediately so we can discover who’s behind these accounts. A lot of them are making very dubious remarks about other people, but because it’s anonymous the guards’ hands are tied.”
Responding to Cllr Sheehan’s comments, Deputy Lawlor said he felt compelled to defend his staff from any allegations of impropriety.
“He can take shots at me, I’m used to that, but when he brings my staff into it I have to act,” said the Wexford TD. "He needs to put up or shut up and name the politician(s) involved. His motion implies that my staff are operating fake accounts online, if he has information on this I would ask that he publicly share it so that their reputations can be preserved.
"At the moment his comments are tarnishing the reputation of the staff of all Wexford’s TDs. I would never countenance any of my staff operating anonymous accounts, because ultimately, it’s counter-productive.”.
While Deputy Lawlor was one of four TDs elected in Wexford constituency in the 2024 generals, Cllr Sheehan was eliminated on the seventh count having received 1,623 first preference votes. And the Labour TD referenced their respective showings in that election as he questioned the councillor’s role, or lack thereof, in last year’s Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann which was held in Wexford town.
“He’s been attacking me since before his abysmal showing in the last general election, he attacked me over my role in the Fleadh Cheoil in 2024 and said he was ‘damned’ if he was going to let me dominate it again. And where was he for the Fleadh in 2025? On holidays.”