Fine Gael TD Ciarán Cannon has announced that he will not contest the next general election blaming a "toxicity in politics".
A TD for Galway East, Mr Cannon has worked in politics for 20 years and was first elected to the Dáil in 2011.
Mr Cannon is currently the Fine Gael spokesperson for Media, Arts and Culture.
He previously served as a Minister of State in the Department of Foreign Affairs and in the Department of Education.
We just ask to be treated with the same civility and respect as anyone else doing their job.
In a statement, he said that there was a "coarseness, a toxicity in politics now that was barely palpable 20 years ago."
He added: "None of us asks to be put on a pedestal, or to be treated any differently. We just ask to be treated with the same civility and respect as anyone else doing their job.
"Yes, politicians are subject to public scrutiny, and rightly so, but what we are experiencing right now goes far beyond that and can be deeply damaging to our wellbeing. At times it feels like it's open season on you and your family.
"That's not acceptable, nor indeed sustainable, if we want to have good people choosing politics as a career," he said.
He said he feels the time is right for him to seek new challenges.
Speaking later to RTÉ's News at One, Mr Cannon said the "predominant" reason he is not standing for election again was that he has given 20 years of his life to politics.
He said: "I’ve enjoyed every day of that 20 years immensely. There comes a time perhaps when, no matter what career path you choose, you feel you’ve given all you can give and it’s time to move on, look to a new horizon.
"Either I'm all in, on behalf of the people who have very, very kindly supported me again and again in Galway East on their behalf, or I’m not. A half-hearted commitment is not a commitment and I feel at this point it's time to move on."
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He added that he was "also confident" he could do things "post-politics that brings something similar in terms of societal benefit".
But the changing nature of public discourse has also fed into his decision.
Specifically, the no-holds-barred interactions that pass for comment and analysis on many social media platforms.
Mr Cannon said that he has "always been an advocate of social media" and praised it for giving "a voice to the voiceless".
"But all gives voice to those who for some reason, best known to themselves, seek to drag people down and seek to hurt and to deliberately hurt them," he said.
He said that was happening "increasingly so on a regular basis" and "it’s not easily solved but it needs to be solved".
'You and your family are the target' - Cannon
Mr Cannon said that social media was "particularly toxic" to female politicians of all parties but had also been experienced by himself and his family.
He later said: "In the political domain right now, it feels like you and your family are the target for whatever kind of abuse people feel it is appropriate for them to throw at you.
"We're all subject to public scrutiny, and rightly so - that should be as robust as it can be - but it’s straying well past the realm of public scrutiny at this point, into the realm of personal abuse directed at you and at your family.
"That’s not acceptable. It was a factor, there’s no question of that, in my deciding to leave politics. It wasn’t the main factor but it was certainly a factor."
Mr Cannon said this "manifests itself predominately through social media".
He said: "It allows a minority of players in that space to direct sometimes vile abuse at you.
"I've been at the end of that, I can tolerate it to a point.
"It’s been there, hovering in the wings, for the last four or five years, but it’s beginning to impact to the extent that I really need to question whether or not I need to continue subjecting myself to that, and more importantly my family to that."
He said he made the decision with his wife after Christmas and approached Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in mid-January to discuss his future.
Following a number of meetings, where he said Mr Varadkar tried to persuade him to stay, he made "the final decision about four or five days ago".
Mr Varadkar paid tribute to Mr Cannon, saying that he was one of the hardest working TDs in the Dáil.
"Ciarán is a gentleman who will be missed by all who know him or who work with him in the Dáil. I wish him the very best in his life after politics," Mr Varadkar said.
'No sense of 'sinking ship' nonsense within Fine Gael' - Cannon
Mr Cannon's announcement that he will not seek re-election brings to double figures the number of Fine Gael TDs who will call it a day when this Dáil is dissolved.
Other TDs who have announced their departures are Paul Kehoe, Richard Bruton, Fergus O'Dowd, Brendan Griffin, Charlie Flanagan, Joe McHugh, Michael Creed, David Stanton and John Paul Phelan.
However, Mr Cannon said all his retiring colleagues are going "for a myriad of reasons", none of them connected to the party's ability to make a contribution to the country.
He said: "Some of them are going simply because they’re at the age at which you would be retiring, others are going for family or personal reasons, but they’re all going for reasons that are unique to themselves.
"There is no sense within Fine Gael of this 'sinking ship’ nonsense, there’s a lot of positivity and a lot of hope for the future of the party."
Cannon's chequered career
His departure from the political stage brings down the curtain on a chequered career.
In some ways, the Fine Gael TD is an outlier in the predominately rural constituency he represents.
He came to the party without an intergenerational familial link and stood in the 2011 general election, having cut his political teeth with the Progressive Democrats (PDs).
He is also unique in having benefitted from the patronage of both Bertie Ahern and Enda Kenny.
Mr Cannon first stood for the PDs in the 2004 local elections, winning a seat on Galway County Council.
Three years later, despite the electoral tide being out for the party in the 2007 general election, he was nominated to the Seanad as one of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's nominees.
That parachute onto the national political stage ultimately resulted in him taking the reins as leader of the PDs before a meeting of members in late 2008 decided to wind up the organisation.
In turn, that led to an approach to Mr Cannon by Fine Gael and Enda Kenny.
He accepted an invitation to join that party and went on to win the seat he has held since 2011.
Over the years that followed, he served as Minister of State at the Department of Education and Department of Foreign Affairs. Since 2020 he has been a backbench TD.
He said he has no regrets as he looks back but does concede to being disappointed at the failure to implement changes that would allow emigrants and those living in the North to vote in presidential elections.
That idea was mooted by Enda Kenny during a 2017 visit to the US but has slipped down the political agenda since.
He said: "It's a superb idea. I don’t think anyone really understands the importance of our Irish community worldwide."
Mindful of his own experiences, he said he hopes politicians will continue to form new alliances, in the interests of the country.
"I've never really understood the relevance or effectiveness of being an independent TD or senator. I think you can create significant change by working with likeminded and equally committed people," he added.
Additional reporting: Pat McGrath
