Kerry County Councillors have hit out at online abuse, which was aimed at them following their decision to rise the Local Property Tax.
Fine Gael councillor Mike Kennelly raised the issue at the monthly meeting of the council.
Cllr Kennelly said he in recent days he was subjected to the worst abuse he'd ever experienced since first being elected in 2009.
He claims the abuse came following a social media post by a fellow councillor.
During the course of the meeting, it transpired an online post by Independent councillor Jackie Healy-Rae was shared by a member of the public, and that shared post sparked abusive comments.
All councillors who spoke on the issue condemned abuse against democracy, be it online or in person, calling it disgraceful and appalling.
They said democracy should be respected, even if people have different views.
Many councillors told the meeting they'd been subjected to such abuse themselves in the past, adding it's hard to ignore when it follows you home through social media.
A number of councillors stated there was a responsibility with any person who puts up a post, to ensure it's factual and to monitor the comments it receives.
Councillor Jackie Healy-Rae stated he was only made aware of the comments yesterday morning when the discussion started, adding they weren't under his original post.
He said his original Facebook post was shared and the person who shared it added their own comment which sparked the comments being referenced by Cllr Kennelly.
He said there were 77 shares on his original post, but due to privacy settings councillor Healy-Rae can only see 22 of those posts.
Cllr Healy-Rae stated he was sorry councillor Kennelly had to go through such abuse, adding he himself had also been subjected to social media abuse and he always condemns it.
The Independent councillor said he couldn't delete the comments in question as they weren't on his own page, but added he does monitor his page as much as possible.
He told the meeting he had deleted other comments under his original post in recent days as they were targeting another councillor.
Cathaoirleach of Kerry County Council, councillor John Francis Flynn said the council condemns any negative form of social media, adding councillors should use their voices as a positive influence for younger generations.
Meanwhile, CEO of the council Moira Murrell told the meeting training, which includes respect in the workplace and the use of social media, would be taking place.
