THE PSNI called me at the weekend to inform me of a threat made by an individual. The content is so harrowing that it is not publishable.

The less said about it, the better, including why it took eight weeks from another body receiving it to police contacting me. Clearly, processes are still not what they need to be.

It is a chilling reminder, however, of the unbridled misogyny that still exists in this place.

Separately, I see it every time I file a column or speak on television or radio.

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Máiría Cahill: I won’t be bullied into silence - but the level of misogyny women experience online is horrific

Many of us in the public domain become receptacles for online effluent spewed by individuals who don’t have the cojones to use their own names when abusing people.

Here’s a snapshot of the comments posted under a link to a column I filed a month ago:

“Grifter”, “Malignant f***wit”, “attention seeker”, “horrible cow”, “odd critter”, “twisted wreck of a ‘woman’”, “clueless useless narcissistic t***”, “lunatic”, “headcase”, “a dose to end all doses”, “nutcase”, “looney tune”. Nice.

An account calling itself the Count of Monte Bisto wrote: “This woman is a complete f***ing........

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