{"id":627370,"date":"2026-09-17T10:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T10:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/627370\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T10:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T10:14:09","slug":"michael-healy-raes-son-heard-awful-commotion-while-on-phone-during-dublin-assault","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/627370\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Healy-Rae\u2019s son heard \u2018awful commotion\u2019 while on phone during Dublin assault"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>An assault that resulted in Independent TD for Kerry <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishexaminer.com\/maintopics\/the-healy-raes_topic-5245486.html\">Michael Healy-Rae<\/a> being hospitalised on Wednesday has been branded an \u201cattack on democracy\u201d, as garda\u00ed urged witnesses to provide video footage for their investigation.<\/p>\n<p>Garda\u00ed are still investigating the assault, which occurred on Cork Street in Dublin city centre, shortly after 4pm on Wednesday. No arrest has been made.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mr Healy-Rae was assaulted by a man while stopped in traffic. At the time of the incident, he was on the phone with his son, Jackie Healy-Rae Junior.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Justice minister Jim O\u2019Callaghan warned that attacks on any members of the Oireachtas will not be tolerated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cAny attack on a member of the Oireachtas because they are a member of the Oireachtas is an attack on democracy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cWe should all resolutely stand together in this House in condemning any such attacks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cPeople are entitled to have different views politically, but what we will not tolerate is being targeted or violence being used against them simply because they don\u2019t share the same political views as others.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin said he was \u201cdeeply shocked and concerned\u201d by the reports about Mr Healy-Rae.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cIt is worth repeating. Violence has no place in a democracy, and those elected to represent the people must be allowed to do their work without fear of abuse or assault,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">It is understood Mr Healy-Rae had left Leinster House and was stopped at traffic lights on Cork Street in central Dublin on Wednesday afternoon when the altercation occurred.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">It is alleged that an individual started shouting at the TD before approaching his car.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">His brother Danny said that Michael Healy-Rae had been \u201chit in the window\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Garda\u00ed from Kevin Street station responded to the scene shortly after 4pm. Mr Healy-Rae was subsequently taken to Kevin Street Garda Station before being brought by ambulance to St Vincent\u2019s University Hospital.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Sources close to Mr Healy-Rae said he was moved to a Garda car from his own vehicle to be brought to Kevin Street station to wait for an ambulance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mr Healy-Rae was released from hospital late on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu caption\">Garda\u00ed appeal for footage<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">In a statement, garda\u00ed said: \u201cIt is understood that a male motorist in his late 50s was approached and assaulted by a lone male while stopped in traffic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cThe injured man was brought to Kevin Street station, where he received medical treatment. His injuries are not life-threatening.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cNo arrests have been made and inquiries are ongoing. Garda\u00ed are appealing for witnesses, particularly anyone who may have camera footage from the area at the time, to contact them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mr Healy-Rae\u2019s son said it was lucky that his father\u2019s injuries were not \u201ctoo serious\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cI could hear everything that was happening&#8230; I could hear someone shouting from a distance and then an awful commotion. It turned to chaos,\u201d Mr Healy-Rae Jr told  Radio Kerry this morning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu caption\">Online clip of incident<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">A video shared online showed Mr Healy-Rae\u2019s branded car stopped in the middle of a Dublin street, with several garda\u00ed speaking to the driver.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mr Healy-Rae can be seen stepping out of the driver\u2019s side of the car before walking with uniformed garda\u00ed to a squad car and stepping into the back of the vehicle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">No assault is seen in the clip. The video was subsequently taken down.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Speaking in the D\u00e1il, Danny Healy-Rae said: \u201cIt is something that is hurting me, as much as anyone else.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cThese shouldn&#8217;t happen to public representatives. [Do] we get elected to hit a fella in the window without being able to defend himself?<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cI hope you&#8217;ll be alright before morning, and that you&#8217;ll be OK tomorrow.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">In a post on social media, T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris said he was \u201cvery concerned\u201d and had spoken to Michael Healy-Rae.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cThere is absolutely no place for violence or intimidation in our democracy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cEvery citizen, including every public representative, has the right to go about their work and their life without fear.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy said: \u201cI was deeply shocked to learn of the assault on Deputy Michael Healy-Rae. On hearing the news, I contacted him and was heartened to hear that he is in good spirits.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cI trust that his injuries are not too serious and wish him a full and speedy recovery. I know that the people of Kerry, whom he represents in D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann, will share a deep concern for his well-being.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cEarlier today, I addressed the D\u00e1il on our shared responsibility to uphold the dignity, safety and well-being of Members, staff and all those who engage with the work of the Houses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cThis is a very serious and extremely concerning development. As Ceann Comhairle, I condemn violence against any elected representative. My thoughts are with Michael and his family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>                Louise Burne, Political Correspondent<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An assault that resulted in Independent TD for Kerry Michael Healy-Rae being hospitalised on Wednesday has been branded&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":627371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5658,187201,24622,45,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-627370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-irish-examiner-instagram","tag-kerry-news","tag-the-healy-raes","tag-an-garda-siochana","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627370","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=627370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}