In case you’re unfamiliar, there’s a Twitter account called @Ireland which basically gives people a chance to talk about themselves, current affairs or basically anything they like for one week.
The password is changed weekly and the person who takes over the account introduces themselves and interacts with people from the account for a week.
This week, Maria Oswalt is in control of the Ireland Twitter account. Maria is a young American woman who is staying in Ireland for a few months to experience our culture, visit her boyfriend and take the whole country in.
Meet Maria @glitterpudding, a graphic designer from Muscle Shoals Alabama, in Ireland for the first time. Maria will be here for a few months with her Trinity-student boyfriend. She plans to share her first Irish experiences, get to know you better and spark good conversations. pic.twitter.com/arpXIB4xhW
— Ireland / Maria (@ireland) February 5, 2018
She’s openly pro life and has worked in the past for various pro life causes. She had hoped to volunteer while she was here on helping out the Irish pro life cause, but alas her visa won’t allow her work on either a voluntary or paid basis.
However, Maria had no intention whatsoever to get involved in the upcoming debate on the 8th Amendment while she was in control of the @Ireland account.
That didn’t stop trolls harrassing the young woman with disgusting tweets and even stalking her other social media profiles for anything they could find and use against her.
The young woman didn’t get a land of a thousand welcomes, instead she got abused, harrassed and even bullied for her pro life views.
It’s left a bad feeling among people on both sides of the debate as it appears there’s a feeble bullying attempt to stiffle debate and shut down free speech in Ireland.