If politicians based their careers on social media, they would 'never get out of bed,' Cork councillor says

POLITICIANS are treated very differently in person than they are on social media, Fine Gael councillor Des Cahill has said, as canvassing ramps up ahead of the local elections in June.

A candidate in the city’s South East ward, Mr Cahill said that if politicians based their careers on social media, they would “never get out of bed”.

“Lots of people ask what it’s like out canvassing, particularly when you’re in government,” Mr Cahill said.

“People want to know if you get a lot of abuse, or anything like that. The short answer is that we don’t: The vast, vast, vast majority of people are always very courteous and nice.

“If they don’t agree with you, they’ll do it in a polite way. I’ll always remind myself, and anyone canvassing, that we knock on their doors, so people are entitled to say whatever they want to say.

“What is disappointing is the skewed version of reality, in terms of social media versus what actually happens.” said Mr Cahill.

“If you based your political career on social media, you’d never get out of bed: It’s not real, it’s not a true reflection of our neighbours. Newspapers are far better [than social media], in my view, and people have a much more balanced view when they see the facts and meet the people.”

Mr Cahill enjoys canvassing. “It’s one of the only jobs where you can knock on someone’s door and ask them how they’re getting on,” he said. “It’s a privilege to be able to do that, and the courtesy of people is always heart-warming and doesn’t bear an iota of resemblance to what you might see on social media.

“I wouldn’t discourage people from any party from canvassing: It’s important for people to get a picture of the opinions out there, and canvassing is an accurate way of doing that, as opposed to social media.”