{"id":626916,"date":"2026-09-16T23:26:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T23:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/626916\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T23:26:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T23:26:09","slug":"michael-healy-rae-released-from-hospital-after-being-assaulted-in-dublin-city-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/626916\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Healy-Rae released from hospital after being assaulted in Dublin city \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kerry<\/a> TD Michael Healy-Rae<\/a> was released from hospital on Wednesday evening after being assaulted in Dublin city centre.<\/p>\n

The attack has been widely condemned by TDs across the political spectrum, raising further concerns about the security of public representatives.<\/p>\n

Healy-Rae sustained at least one blow to the head and was cut in the face in Wednesday\u2019s attack, which happened just after 4pm near the Coombe hospital in the south inner city. He was in his car at the time \u2013 a white Skoda with \u201cMichael Healy-Rae\u201d signage on it.<\/p>\n

The TD\u2019s son, Cllr Jackie Healy-Rae jnr, said his father was verbally abused by a passerby and was then assaulted by a man who punched him through the open window of the car.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was cut all right. He is in hospital now getting stitches,\u201d said the councillor, who had spoken to his father by phone from Kerry.<\/p>\n

He said his father, who was taken to hospital and later discharged on Wednesday evening, had been shaken and shocked by the experience.<\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed<\/a> were quickly on the scene and offered assistance to the former minister of State. He was taken to Kevin Street Garda station initially, with paramedics called.<\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed believe that the attack, on Cork Street, was spur-of-the-moment and that the person who assaulted Healy-Rae was not part of any protest group in the area at the time.<\/p>\n

The assailant fled the scene, with unconfirmed reports locally that he was walking a dog at the time.<\/p>\n

Appealing for witnesses, garda\u00ed confirmed an assault took place without naming Healy-Rae. They said: \u201cIt is understood that a male motorist in his late 50s was approached and assaulted by a lone male while stopped in traffic. No arrests have been made and inquiries are ongoing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed were hoping to take an initial statement of complaint from the TD on Wednesday, with a full investigation already under way. <\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed are likely to carry out a forensic examination of Healy-Rae\u2019s car in an attempt to link the attacker to the crime scene.<\/p>\n

CCTV from the area was also being harvested in a bid to isolate the attacker in footage in the area and confirm his identity.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Who are the Healy-Raes? A guide to Ireland\u2019s biggest political dynastyOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Michael Healy-Rae\u2019s brother, Danny Healy-Rae<\/a>, referred in the D\u00e1il to the incident, saying: \u201cMy brother was assaulted in the car and it\u2019s not on.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was \u201cjust doing his work, or wherever he was going, and stopped on the road and someone hit him in the window. I hope he\u2019ll be all right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such things \u201cshouldn\u2019t happen to public representatives. We get elected to help people and not to hurt them, and if we can\u2019t do right by everyone, it\u2019s tough. We can\u2019t please everyone. We\u2019re doing our best. It\u2019s unfair to hit a fellow in the window without being able to defend himself. I hope he\u2019ll be all right before morning and that he\u2019ll be out again tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier, Danny Healy-Rae said that TDs were operating in a very different world. \u201cIt\u2019s not like it was in years gone by. Now, when you come into Leinster House at eight in the morning, there are barriers up.\u201d <\/p>\n

Other TDs also condemned the attack, with T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris saying: \u201cI\u2019ve spoken to Michael Healy-Rae and sent him my best wishes for a full recovery. There is absolutely no place for violence or intimidation in our democracy. Every citizen, including every public representative, has the right to go about their work and their life without fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy said she was \u201cdeeply shocked\u201d to learn of the assault.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn hearing the news, I contacted him and was heartened to hear that he is in good spirits … This is a very serious and extremely concerning development. As Ceann Comhairle, I condemn violence against any elected representative.\u201d<\/p>\n

The attack comes a day after a public order incident at the National Ploughing Championships during which a man was arrested in a confrontation with garda\u00ed while trying to approach Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin.<\/p>\n

It is understood the man was arrested for an alleged attempted assault on Tuesday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed said no one was injured in the incident and that a man in his 60s has since been charged and released to appear before a sitting of the District Court at a later date.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae was released from hospital on Wednesday evening after being assaulted in Dublin city centre.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":626917,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[15049,23881,615,61,60,7727,24878,43],"class_list":["post-626916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-dail-eireann","tag-danny-healy-rae","tag-dublin","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kerry","tag-michael-healy-rae","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=626916"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626916\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/626917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}