Tag Archives: social media

A strong warning on the responsible use of social media was delivered by outgoing Clare GAA County Board chairman, Michael McDonagh, at Wednesday night’s convention. He welcomed the use of social media “if it is done in an honest and straightforward way, with no personal attacks”. “I fear, at some stage, it will go too far and people will not be able to take the pressure. I hope my words never come true, as everyone should know what could happen when somebody is under pressure,” he told delegates at the Auburn Lodge in Ennis. “All county team managers should deliver a year-end report to the officers of the county board who, in turn, will deliver that report to the county committee for discussion,” McDonagh continued. Welcoming all as chairman for the last time, he noted, “I have spoken to many people and asked them about the way forward for Clare GAA and Clare County Board. Everyone’s opinion differed but the …

THE social media reaction to the defeats suffered by Clare senior hurlers, in both the league and championship was disturbing, according to county secretary Pat Fitzgerald. In his annual report, which will be presented to next Wednesday’s convention, he says, “There was a cohort chomping, waiting for the opportunity to go on websites and indulge in an unbalanced bashing of the team and the management. “Nobody deserves to be pilloried by people who haven’t the courage to reveal their identity and hide behind pseudonyms. To me, there are boundaries as regards acceptable and unacceptable behaviour and some of the postings on these sites overstepped the mark and instead of been based on constructive criticism, were used as a means for personal attacks,” the secretary continues. “I have to admit, I was taken aback by the degree of cynicism to the appointment of Davy to the Clare job initially. Opinion was clearly divided and he had to work hard to win …

TEN-year-old Clare children are inadvertently engaging in cyberbullying, according to a local community garda. Garda Deirdre Scanlon, who is based in Ennistymon, has also warned that there are 11 and 12-year-olds with Facebook pages who are befriending people online who they don’t know, without realising they could turn out to be a sex predator. Having delivered a series of cyberbullying talks to primary and secondary schools over the last two and a half years, she believes the increased availability of different forms of information technology has facilitated more cyberbullying by children and teenagers. “Children and teenagers put up a comment and they have no idea it is up there forever. It seems every comment has to be worse than the next. It can be a case of bitchiness with the girls, who tend to be worse than fellas. Fellas don’t seem get as involved as much but girls can get involved in groups. “I tell children, ‘if you met a …