Minister for State Shane McEntee will be buried in his native Meath on Monday – as friends and colleagues continue to claim cyber bullying and criticism aired on radio shows contributed to his suicide.
The 56-year-old father of three took his own life on Friday just weeks after he was at the center of a political storm over budget cutbacks on respite care grants.
McEntee had told one newspaper: “You could stay in a top hotel for €700 a week. People just have to get on with it.”
The Sunday Independent reports that former Fine Gael deputy John Farrelly and current Roscommon representative Frank Feighan have both pointed to the criticism as a factor in McEntee’s decision to commit suicide.
Fellow Meath man Farrelly told the paper that the ‘abuse’ directed towards McEntee on social media websites was a factor in his tragic death.
Farrelly said: “Shane was desperately upset by a barrage of online abuse that followed comments the late minister had made in relation to cuts to
the respite care grant.
“We didn’t talk about it that much, other than for him to say that ‘this respite thing, they are destroying me’.”
Roscommon based Fine Gael deputy Feighan, said: “I feel that there is a frenzy out there and I feel a lot of it is generated through social media.
“I think it is something that we all have to contend with. It is an issue that must stop. I don’t mind people having reasoned debate, but this seems to be frenzied, continued and is causing huge concern not just for politicians, but their families.”
Several friends told the Sunday Independent that Minister McEntee was under stress at the time of his death and had agreed to see a doctor.
Former Meath footballer and family friend Colm O’Rourke wrote in the paper: “He was more than a party man, he loved people. People want to blame someone for every fault and politicians in general are treated badly. . . It is totally unfair and unjustifiable and Shane at times had not a tough enough skin. . .
“Mainly he tried to do too much, he gave willingly of everything he had and felt badly if he was not able to solve all problems.”
Fellow politicians have also commented on McEntee’s death and admitted that they are under more public scrutiny and criticism than ever before.
Labor Party junior Minister Kathleen Lynch said: “All politicians are coming under enormous pressure from the public.
“The type of pressure politicians are under is different to what it
used to be. Shane’s death should tell every one of us that politicians are human.”
Independent deputy Finian McGrath said: “Behind every public representative is a private individual. There is a lot of hostility towards all public representatives at the moment, and some of them and their families find that hard to deal with.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.pilib04 | Dec 26, 2012, 06:51 PM EST
I am more than willing to give Shane McEntee the mental illness out for his suicide. However, I will not stand by and coddle politicians. They need to be under more light NOT less. Who can say what caused him to commit suicide? Maybe he was stealing from the poor? Maybe he felt guilty for handing over Ireland's future to the Bankers. Harry Truman had a phrase for weak-kneed politicians: "If the stove is too hot, get out of the kitchen." I'm sure that is paraphrased. I learned it from a local pol in 1966 at our state Democratic Convention. She was the matriarch of the Democratic Party.
edward1200 | Dec 26, 2012, 06:56 AM EST
Shane McEntee was a rich farmer .he cared not for the poor of ireland.He cared for his own kind.What about all the people Shane sent to their graves with his support of bad policies.The sooner more tds go the same way the better
edward1200 | Dec 26, 2012, 06:50 AM EST
Shane McEntee voted to cut poor peoples benifits and services.What did he expect.I saw people chearing his death,just as people cheared when British soilders got killed at the start of the troubles.
seanomelb | Dec 25, 2012, 02:49 AM EST
Enjoy the festive season Eamonn and hoping to cross swords with you in the new year
mamaginnty | Dec 24, 2012, 05:08 PM EST
May he rest in peace but he was a bit nasty to carers of the elderly, disabled and sick, who care 24/7. No one was following him around protesting, he could have deleted e-mails etc. I think it was something more than that. Now we have a government using him as some sort of martyr against the people.
merefalow | Dec 24, 2012, 09:48 AM EST
with the best will in the world,if you are a poitico,you have to be able to take critisism,people say he was that rare one,a decent man.its a pity the rest of them are not as sensitive.unlikely the critisism is the sole contributing factor.
EamonnDublin | Dec 24, 2012, 08:18 AM EST
Seán - the Irish Independent did not mention suicide when the news was just breaking. The next day, every bit of the media in Ireland said it was suicide. Yes, it used to be a taboo subject, but not any more. A Very Happy Christmas and a Great New Year to you and Yours. Éamonn.
angrypaddy | Dec 24, 2012, 12:26 AM EST
i blame the tax payer for not paying the household tax and watching to much SKY TV.
angrypaddy | Dec 24, 2012, 12:24 AM EST
Handsome88 sounds like you discovered that you were gay ?
barnie4001 | Dec 23, 2012, 07:44 PM EST
how many people can afford 700 euro for a top hotel in Ireland,you can a fortnight on the Continent for less But if you are in the Irish government its a cakewalk to pay 700 euro anywhere
Happyhippo | Dec 23, 2012, 07:40 PM EST
Looks like suicide is quite an option these days and can be contagous among the immature,but is it really just a lack of coping skills among certain groups that are prone to self harm or they have some other personel problems that dont manifest so easily ,ether way it causes devastation to familys and those closest to them and should never be concidered an option if only for that reason.
JBRAFTREE | Dec 23, 2012, 06:51 PM EST
Sad to say, but this gentleman sounds very immature for a father and politician. The old adage should have applied: Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me.
Paul Hogan | Dec 23, 2012, 06:31 PM EST
No Guts.Taking your life is cowardly. More politicians should do the same.
seanomelb | Dec 23, 2012, 05:43 PM EST
Schlomo has a point the (once great) independent never mentioned suicide even when it was common knowledge. I can trace this attitude back many years ,that when a person of Importance was involved in an incident the truth is somehow assuage so as not to embarrass his family. The same rules do not apply to lesser mortals as the press will crucify or name them. Politicians have always lived with hostility and vilification for their deeds and actions. If Mr. McEntee was of a frail mind politics was not hios game. It might be a case of nepotism backfiring. My condolences to his family.
AwakenLongford | Dec 23, 2012, 04:47 PM EST
So now if a large number of people confront a TD on a matter of national importance it is a "frenzied" attack! Get real! Irish politicians have had no opposition for so long! Irish people are waking up! Every Irish person is entitled to comment, if these so called comments are nasty, derisory or defamatory reprint them so we can all see them, but do not make statements without substance. maybe if this TD acted with his constituents wishes foremost in his mind and not the party whip or personal concerns, things might have been different, in saying this, no matter is so prescient that the only avenue available is suicide! Shane McEntee RIP
handsome68 | Dec 23, 2012, 03:39 PM EST
This rash of suicides is alarming. Way back when I was 12, I thought about it for reasons that I won't go into here. But I reasoned in my still undeveloped brain that my parents would have concluded that I was always weak, so I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of offing myself since they would only conclude wrongly, as was usual with them I thought. I mean, whatever happened to irony, humo(u)r, and WTF when dealing with a world in which the deck is or was seemingly often stacked against one?
Pittsburghkid | Dec 23, 2012, 03:08 PM EST
Should have never gone into the EU
irishpjk | Dec 23, 2012, 03:00 PM EST
wtf. Its time people and especially politician’s started taking responsibility for their own actions and stop playing the blame game. Just look at Washington DC
eiriamach | Dec 23, 2012, 01:29 PM EST
Social media like Facebook have lured some adults into sadistic cyber-stalking harassment and cyber-bullying, worse than adolescents. There are the "leaders" and the "enablers" or helpers who, when you confront them with the nasty sh*te done on their web pages, reply "I didn't do that to you. X did it on my page/site." Yeah, they think they can transfer their US First Amendment rights and responsibilities so they can remain innocent. USE your freedom of speech to describe the tactics and the people who do the cyber-bullying and harassment and the organizations that provide them the means to do it online. Expose them on the very public Internet to warn others away, and you can feel like a good citizen instead of a victim. It works for me! I wish McEntee had gone after the bullies and shamed them instead of being stoical about it.
cillowen | Dec 23, 2012, 01:06 PM EST
the politicians that caused the tiger's demise are the one who caused all that is and has befallen eire.
EamonnDublin | Dec 23, 2012, 12:23 PM EST
Schlomo!! In the circumstances, why couldn't you just be basically polite, and ask what the Irish media is saying? For your info, the Irish media, without exception has headlined this tragic case as "SUICIDE". Why do some people have to turn even a tragedy into an opportunity for throwing insults around the place? Oh, by the way, we are coping just fine, thank you. Happy Christmas. Éamonn, Dublin, Ireland.
Schlomo | Dec 23, 2012, 11:27 AM EST
Suicide? Never to be mentioned in the Irish media. It's call "under tragic circumstances there because the Irish public can'r even cope with the simple word: SUICIDE.