An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-21
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Gerard P. Craughwell (IND), Labour Panel

I, too, want to be associated with the comments on Senator Flynn. It might be of interest to her to know that, shortly after I shut down my X account, somebody appeared on X as "G. Craughwell" and continues to tweet on that platform despite the fact that I have already complained that my name is being used. These companies have an obligation to ordinary citizens, never mind Members of the Oireachtas or anywhere else. I have complained and am still complaining. I complained when I was impersonated on Facebook, and within hours, Facebook acted to stop it. That did not happen on Twitter and it is not happening on X. I think X actually drives revenue by destroying people. It is a horrible organisation. I would have nothing to do with it.
I want to talk very briefly about bullying in the workplace. I am glad to see a class of students here because they need to know that bullies have no place in our society. Bullies only thrive when people allow them to. A bully needs to be confronted, not just by the victim. Actually, we do not call them "victims", but "targets". Once you confront a bully, he or she will move his or her sights to another target. Essentially, bullies are weak people who lack confidence in themselves and only ever attack a person who actually is great, confident and excellent at what they do. The bully is actually jealous of who and what you are.
Do not ever let a bully take over. There is an excellent story today titled, "I stood up to my workplace bully – everyone tells you not to, but fighting back was my therapy". I fought back personally for seven years. I lived in an office on my own rented for me by my college, outside the building where all the staff were, and a classroom was rented outside the school so I could teach my classes. People would look at a big guy like me and say I surely could not be bullied as a man of my size, but I was for seven years of my life. I do not carry it with me though. I now see it as a badge of honour because I stood up. I am telling people today there is no place for bullies in any workplace and companies need to stand up and confront bullies that exist within their organisation. Fair play to the young woman mentioned in the Irish Independent today.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-04-21/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:50+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-21