so it was about three weeks ago i was
working for the kilkenny clear arler and
semi-final and just an average day that
you're working doing the analysis in the
punditry for the games and i was happy
and relieved that i had finished my work
for the day and i suppose the next
morning it was sunday and i was looking
forward to watching limerick and galway
in the other semi just very relaxed and
casually just scrolling on facebook and
i came across a an article and it had a
headline ursula jake
was hammered on the sunday game and
immediately i think i just panicked i
worried i was like what's this about did
i say something
that controversial the day before and
i suppose i was too terrified to
actually click on the link to see what
it was about because i was for fear of
what was going to be inside the article
so between my sister and my husband the
two of them had a look for me and they
were like look this article is just
based on two individuals and i repeat
two individuals who had just
said you know they didn't like the sound
of my voice they why is there a woman
speaking about a men's man's game
and the whole article was fabricated uh
and based on these two individuals but
for me what was probably upsetting about
it was that this page this social media
page was going out to 270 thousand
and people who had subscribed and liked
to the page
so i suppose i was very upset it was
kind of it wasn't like i came out with
the statement or my posts just based on
this one article i suppose it had been
over a period of time where the same
things kept cropping up where it was why
is there a woman speaking about the
men's game
what you know i can't stand her accent
can't stand you know her voice can we
mute her the same things over and over
again and the fully ironic thing was
they never were commenting on my
knowledge my analysis and i'm i'm well
aware that when you're on television and
you're speaking about any sport or
anything you're open to criticism not
everyone's going to agree with your
opinion and that's fair enough but when
it gets to the personal nasty comments
that was constantly creeping up i just
kind of got to the stage where i felt
enough was enough so it was actually the
following day which was the monday i
still was feeling quite annoyed
aggrieved frustrated upset uh saying i
just this is bothering me it's uh
haven't uh you know it's
impacted me on my personal life i was in
wexford hospital for an antenatal
appointment where i should be absolutely
beaming exciting
really looking forward to you know
welcoming my first child into the world
in a few months and yet i was still
bothered and upset by this and i got the
little bit of kind of fight and
determination back into me that morning
as i sat in the waiting room on my own i
started writing the post that i
eventually put out that evening yeah and
it was probably the most difficult thing
i've ever put out because i would never
put myself out there out there like that
on social media i'm private on all all
platforms for a reason because
i just don't want to open myself to that
kind of abuse
and to be honest i can't believe in the
last three weeks the amount of support
and everything i've received since yeah
it's it's kind of hard to believe we're
in 2022 and uh
this is kind of like you know when you
said that you know people are saying why
is a woman talking about i mean as a guy
that is absolutely i can't say it on
live tv but if i heard that in person in
person i'd actually stab the person
how does it feel to well i suppose you
could you did get a good
support from that yeah so i guess how
does it feel knowing that you do have
such support with that well i'm being
honest look at i know that my post is
not going to change the world there will
always be trolls out there nasty people
out there who will hide behind
keyboard warriors as i said
at least i feel now i've kind of taken
back some of the power it doesn't mean
that the trolling towards me or anyone
else will stop but i'm so proud of
myself that i actually stood up for
myself and said as i said enough was
enough because it gets to a stage where
it was affecting my confidence on that
sunday morning when i opened up that i
had said to my family that's it i'm
finishing i'm not doing it anymore it's
not worth the time the effort everything
and it really really had not my
confidence and then
as i said i got that little bit of fight
and determination back in me on the
monday and it was the best decision i
ever made because i said i either need
to post it now or forget about it and
move on and it's easy for people to say
you know ignore it ignore it but when it
gets to the constant every time you're
on the television and they're just
saying the same thing about me being a
woman speaking about hurling can i just
say as well you've got the most
beautiful accent and i think that like
in the gaa especially we're all
celebrating our counties and you've got
a lovely strong wexford accent but that
is what's what makes you you and
everyone should be so proud of and how
dare they they're probably just jealous
because they might like your country and
the thing is but it's just not right
it's not right to say that and for
anyone shame on them and i think that no
one should ever be given that platform
for their um their troll trolling
comments to be um sensationalized and
and like
and that's what like that's what that
page was doing it was facilitating the
nastiness and that's what upset me
because they were basing on two
individuals you know you'd swear i said
something so horrific that you know and
i it made me doubt myself but look i'm
very proud to be a woman i'm very proud
to be from wexford i'm not looking to
change spider things and imagine all
three of us were here robotic speaking
to each other it sounded the same and
looked the same i know what would be the
point of it that would be great
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