In 2018, Holly Cairns was 28 years old and had voted once in her life. In the five years since, she's been elected to Cork County Council, then to Dáil Eireann and in the last twelve months has become leader of the Social Democrats. 

Earlier this year, having previously been vocal about the targeted, sexualised abuse she and other female TDs are regularly subjected to, Holly spoke for the first time about that abuse - normally faceless and online - escalating into a real-world situation where a man began showing up at her home in West Cork. 

She speaks to Richie from her family farm about how that experience changed the way she lives day to day, why she decided that talking about abuse to journalists anonymously stopped making sense, and the dilemma she faces as the leader of a political party about when to be open and when to keep quiet. 

Episode is brought to you by NOW and is a Second Captains production. 

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