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Aodhan Ó Riordáin's life online: 'I accidentally tweeted one word - #horny'

Well-known Irish names tell us about their life on the internet.

TWITTER. FACEBOOK. INSTAGRAM. You’re bound to have your favourite social media site (unless you’re the type who eschews living online entirely).

And, of course, Irish celebs and well-known names have their favourite sites too. Some of them are even known for being a dab hand at the old tweet machine. So we put some questions to them about what they’ve learned from being on social media this year.

Aodhán Ó Riordáin, Senator and former Labour TD

What’s your favourite social media site?

Twitter.

What page/site do you check every day?

I check my Twitter, Facebook, and I also check iTunes to see how my podcast is doing. I’ve a podcast called The Better Side where I interview people like Tara Flynn, Hilary Benn and Brian Kerr.

If you could only follow/like one person on your favourite site, who would you choose?

Colm Tobin is hilarious, and a guy called Damien Owens. [Twitter is] not as much fun as it used to be – I don’t know if it was ever much fun, but [Owens] cheers me up.

What have you learned about people through social media?

The mute button is really important. It depends on what basis people are on, if people are on to have go then, it’s difficult to have [a conversation].

I try not to interact with too many people on Twitter because you go down a rabbit hole and you don’t want to be impolite… but sometimes people ask you questions and it seems to be reasonable – but you delve into a little of who they are and go down a rabbit hole.

If someone wants to ask a genuine question, that’s grand. I’ve stopped putting out negativity. I try not to be critical. It’s easy to have a cut off people.

I’ve tried not to do that – there’s enough negativity online. I try to rise above it, though I did do that on Monday…

I am trying to be positive.

What have you learned about yourself from social media?

I’m possibly not as funny as I thought I was. I definitely should bite my lip… and ‘you don’t have to get involved’.

What’s your favourite post of yours?

Sometimes you put stuff up and you have to put a smiley face on it so people realise you’re telling a joke. I remember putting one up, I think, on the day of marriage equality – I tweeted ‘fuck yeah’ and that got 12,000 retweets, so that was cool.

But I put a heart sign in for the ‘u’ so it could have been feck.

What’s your favourite post of someone else’s?

A Damien Owens one, about Trump. It got a huge reaction.

Have you ever shared something on social media and regretted it?

Not that often no, no not really.

I was out canvassing with Eimear Costello during the EU elections and I bought her a Viking hat during Viking Fest in Clontarf in 2014. I put a hat on her head and my head [and took a photo and tweeted it], thinking it was a little bit risky,

But the photo didn’t load and all people got was one word: #horny

I tried to go delete it but my phone died. I always tell new Labour candidates that story.

(We couldn’t find the exact one he is talking about, but we did find this one:)

What are you most likely to tweet about/share on Twitter?

Football. It could be anything Dublin related, anything Ireland related, the Shells ladies team, GAA club or any match I’m at or game I’m training for.

I was recently flicking through my tweets and 90% of my tweets are about football.

I think what Twitter gives you an opportunity to do is be a little more human and Facebook is an opportunity to broaden out what you are doing and people interact with it. Facebook is more powerful but Twitter allows you show a certain side of your personality that people wouldn’t be aware of.

Paschal Donohoe is really interesting on Twitter… he’s into really into music, literature, novels.

I think people’s interaction with a politician can be quite formal [offline].

How would you sum up your persona on social media in one word?

I think I’d ask someone else… maybe ‘prolific’.

Catch up with the rest of our My Social Media Life questionnaires here.

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36 Comments
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    Mute De Grouch
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    Sep 26th 2014, 8:28 AM

    Paisley was a delusional imbecile who was dragged out of the dark ages by the tail. There I said it. The truth.

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    Mute Roland 303
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    Sep 26th 2014, 7:43 AM

    Wonder will the televised memorial have an x-factor-style best bits compilation of his rantings and ravings over the years? And those from his own party and his own church, who stabbed him in the back just before his demise, will all be there, teary-eyed, as they share jokes about his bigotry.

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    Mute Cóilín O'Toole
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    Sep 26th 2014, 7:53 AM

    Sectarian division and hatred are his memorial.

    Rest in peace.

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    Mute Adrian McBride
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    Sep 26th 2014, 10:42 AM

    That’ll be Adams, McGuinness and Kellys memorial too then.

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    Mute Roland 303
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    Sep 26th 2014, 1:06 PM

    Those 3 wise men have done more to bring peace to the north than anyone else. If Paisley had never been, it could’ve been oh so different. Instead, unionism had a demon for its leader.

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    Mute Adrian McBride
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    Sep 26th 2014, 4:35 PM

    Those three men and many more will always be seen as evil by my community. They wernt doing much for peace until almost 30 years of a futile terror campaign had been clocked up. They only opted for peace when war no longer suited them.

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    Mute Adrian McBride
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    Sep 26th 2014, 4:36 PM

    The IRA were the biggest obstacle to peace in NI.

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    Mute Mick O'Neill
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    Sep 26th 2014, 6:24 PM

    yes Adrian always blame the taigs, sure the British army and the UVF were all church going men of God weren’t they…

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    Mute Mick O'Neill
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    Sep 26th 2014, 6:43 PM

    What is ‘your community’ Adrian? with a name like that it seems you are quite genetically connected to the Ulster Gaelic Irish community.

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    Mute Adrian McBride
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    Sep 26th 2014, 7:30 PM

    Lol yeah play the sectarian card as usual. I don’t blame the ‘taigs’, I blame the republicans, two very different things mate.

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    Mute Adrian McBride
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    Sep 26th 2014, 7:34 PM

    My name? My father was Protestant, my mother was Catholic. My grandad on my mother’s side was Protestant and my granny Catholic. No sectarianism in my family tree mate. I can identify the IRA as murderous terrorists though and I know that peace here hinged on them calling a ceasefire.

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    Mute Mick O'Neill
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    Sep 27th 2014, 11:53 AM

    lol you said in another discussion that you were arrested in 2001 for waving an ‘Ulster banner’ at a roundbaout in 2001, how on earth could you do that if you have a catholic mother, a loyalist flag? I have 2 catholic parents and have never waved republican flags about the place as i have a bit of dignity. yes who said the IRA weren’t terrorists? as were the UVF, UDA, etc. I do not take sides on the issue as I know that both sides were terrorists, unionists are always very slow to admit that the loyalists were actually terrorists as well.
    I was referring to your routes, you are obviously of part Gaelic stock so when you say ‘your community’ it can be a bit confusing.

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    Mute Mick O'Neill
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    Sep 27th 2014, 11:56 AM

    Also please don’t assume that my family are sectarian because they married people within their own community, my great aunt married a protestant during the troubles.
    People are always more likely to marry people within their community as that is where the mixing is done, this is the case throughout the world.

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    Mute Conor McKenna
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    Sep 26th 2014, 7:54 AM

    Public memorial by invitation only?

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    Mute Peter Slattery
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    Sep 26th 2014, 8:52 AM

    Ya know, just in case some Catholics decide they want to go along.

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    Mute kingstown
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    Sep 26th 2014, 9:18 AM

    A tribute to a bigot. . How nice

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    Mute Roland 303
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    Sep 26th 2014, 1:08 PM

    I hear it’s part of a series. Episode 2 is titled “Enoch Powell – a man of his times!!!”

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    Mute The Big Yin.
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    Sep 26th 2014, 9:09 AM

    Do not understand why BBC will be broadcasting this “service’. Only goes towards legitimising the old sectarian bar steward.

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    Mute Some Feen
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    Sep 26th 2014, 10:21 AM

    Cuuuuuuuuunt

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    Mute Rugby DadaiO
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    Sep 26th 2014, 1:42 PM

    Paisley is finally getting to shake hands with his friend and mentor Oliver Cromwell as the burn together in hell.

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    Mute Winston Teardrops
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    Sep 26th 2014, 10:45 AM

    Maybe they could get Pope Francis to sprinkle holy water on the attendees and swing the thurible around the hall.

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    Mute Liam Ó Séicspéir
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    Sep 26th 2014, 10:09 AM

    Why is there a story about Paisley’s memorial in the journal? It’s not as if anyone reading this is going to want to go to it.

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    Mute dav O
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    Sep 26th 2014, 9:34 AM

    NEVER!!!!!

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    Mute BC
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    Sep 26th 2014, 11:01 AM

    He is very devilish looking in that picture, a bogey man who even in death sends a shiver down the spine.

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    Mute FlopFlipU
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    Sep 26th 2014, 7:38 AM

    He was a great man for the protesting where is he now ,we need someone to lead the water protesters

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    Mute Juan Venegas
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    Sep 26th 2014, 9:47 AM

    I’d rather stop complaining and pay for water than having a man like Ian Paisley as my leader. Also, I would rather pock myself in the eye.

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    Mute inproperganda
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    Sep 26th 2014, 11:52 AM

    why do you need a leader, are you lost?

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    Mute M Bowe
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    Sep 26th 2014, 11:26 AM

    It will be very interesting who (if any) of the DUP get an invite after their coup.

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    Mute Patrick
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    Sep 26th 2014, 3:50 PM

    He was just a loud annoying person , not a statesman or a visionary.

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    Mute Martin Hayes
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    Sep 26th 2014, 10:47 AM

    Paisley’s greatest fear was a meeting of minds between the two sides in NI. The amount of vitriol being directed against his ghost shows his legacy is safe.

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    Mute Terri O'Gorman McCormick
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    Sep 26th 2014, 10:50 AM

    Why?

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    Mute Martin Hayes
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    Sep 26th 2014, 10:47 AM

    Paisley’s greatest fear was a meeting of minds between the two sides in NI. The amount of vitriol being directed against his ghost shows his legacy is safe.

    2
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