GPA player development officer Conor Cusack tweeted on Monday night about the abuse which Meath goalkeeper Paddy O'Rourke received following the Leinster semi-final on Sunday.
Cusack has been a prominent advocate for mental health in recent years and highlighted the repercussions which such abuse could have on GAA players.
The recent public abuse of a GAA player on social media is giving visibility to an oft hidden& silent bullying that many people are enduring
— Conor Cusack (@Conor14Cusack) June 29, 2015
I meet too many families that have been struck by tragedy of a loved one ending their life & only discovering after their social media abuse
— Conor Cusack (@Conor14Cusack) June 29, 2015
Appearing on The Last Word with Matt Cooper on Today FM, Cusack expanded on his tweets.
In particular he spoke about the individual who tweeted O'Rourke - 'Don't think I wouldn't knife you brother'.
I think this crossed the line. When a guy is threatening to knife you. That's not cyber bullying, that's a murder threat.
If that happened on the side of the street and a guard witnessed that, I'm sure that person would be arrested.
We seem to have this tolerance for when it happens online.
The former Cork hurler also said that there is a misconception that just because players are physically fit, they are also mentally healthy.
There's a major misconception amongst the general public, they look at these guys and they make the mistake that just because these fellas are incredibly physically fit, there isn't a correlation that they're in an emotionally well place too.
These lads are not immune to the normal slings and arrows of everyday life.
My fear would be that after a game, guys are in a particularly heightened state of emotion and can react in ways that they normally wouldn't react.
If a guy's in a particularly vulnerable place in his life for whatever reason, something like that could be enough to put him over the edge.
We've seen several instances recently where there has been tragic consequences when it comes to online abuse.
Colm O'Rourke, uncle of Paddy O'Rourke, yesterday called for the gardaí to take action against such abuse.
