{"id":627584,"date":"2026-09-17T15:04:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T15:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/627584\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T15:04:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T15:04:15","slug":"man-arrested-in-connection-with-michael-healy-rae-assault-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/627584\/","title":{"rendered":"Man arrested in connection with Michael Healy-Rae assault \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Garda\u00ed<\/a> investigating an assault on Kerry<\/a> TD Michael Healy-Rae in Dublin\u2019s south inner city on Wednesday have arrested a man.<\/p>\n

The suspect was detained in Dublin on Thursday morning.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Healy-Rae<\/a> said he would \u201cnot be deterred\u201d from his work after the attack. <\/p>\n

He said, however, that a \u201cserious conversation\u201d was needed about the \u201cgrowing toxicity directed towards politicians and public representatives\u201d.<\/p>\n

Healy-Rae was assaulted while driving on Cork Street in the capital on Wednesday and was treated in St Vincent\u2019s hospital before returning home to Kerry later that night. <\/p>\n

In a statement released on Thursday morning, he thanked the garda\u00ed at Kevin Street Garda station, the ambulance crew and the hospital staff who assisted and treated him and expressed gratitude to \u201cthe thousands of people from Kerry and across the country who have contacted me and my family\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever the intention behind this attack, I will not be deterred from continuing my work or from representing the people of Kerry to the very best of my ability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calling out hostility towards elected representatives, he said: \u201cDisagreement and robust political debate are entirely legitimate, but personal abuse, intimidation and violence can never be accepted or normalised in a democratic society\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m back in Kerry, I look forward to getting back to work in the coming days and trust the garda\u00ed will find the perpetrator and bring him to justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Assault on Michael Healy-Rae increases fears over TD safetyOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> has said the assault is a \u201csignificant moment\u201d for Irish politics, the implications of which need to be taken very seriously. <\/p>\n

Martin said Irish politics has always been unusual in the sense that Oireachtas members and ministers can walk through the streets unhindered.<\/p>\n

However, he suggested that situation was now changing. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not universal across the board, but certain elements are emerging in a sort of aggressive, hostile way to physically assault (politicians). We never had this before,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Martin, who was in Farmleigh House for a meeting with the president of the European Council Antonio Costa, said he had contacted Healy-Rae by phone last night and had had a conversation with him about the assault. He learned that Healy-Rae had received quite a number of stitches for his wounds. <\/p>\n

\u201cHis car window is down, he was (stopped) in traffic with traffic lights ahead. Someone comes along and punches him into the mouth and around the head,\u201d said Martin. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very serious and worrying. It is, as the Minister for Justice has said, an attack on democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed have appealed for anyone who witnessed or has footage of the incident to come forward. <\/p>\n

Assistant Garda Commissioner Jonathan Roberts said garda\u00ed had good CCTV image of the man but said it was difficult to say whether or not the incident was a spontaneous attack, or a more planned event. \u201cIt was a very brief incident,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\"AssistantAssistant Garda Commissioner Jonathan Roberts speaking to the media at Dublin Metropolitan Region Headquarters at Dublin Castle about the assault of independent TD Michael Healy-Rae. Photograph: Brian Lawless\/PA Wire <\/p>\n

On the safety of figures in public life, Roberts said a specific operation to provide advice to anybody in public life has been in place since 2024. <\/p>\n

Since 2025, the Garda has made some 18 arrests in relation to some form of abuse or offence targeted at people in public positions. <\/p>\n

Earlier, the TD\u2019s son Jackie Healy-Rae said his father was \u201ca bit shook\u201d and \u201ca bit sore\u201d after the incident but would not be deterred from doing his job.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cSomeone would have to kill him to stop him and I hope that never happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael Healy-Rae and Jackie Healy-Rae jnr. Photograph: Stephen Collins\/Collins Photos <\/p>\n

Jackie Healy-Rae, who is a councillor on Kerry County Council, spoke of a \u201ctoxicity\u201d around politics that was \u201cfuelled an awful lot by social media<\/a>\u201d. <\/p>\n

He outlined how he was on the phone to his father when the attack took place and he could hear shouting from a distance and then \u201cwithin seconds, all of a sudden, all you could hear was an awful commotion going on inside in the car as it was happening\u201d.<\/p>\n

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

Michael 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. <\/p>\n

He was in his car at the time \u2013 a white Skoda with \u201cMichael Healy-Rae\u201d signage on it.<\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed 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 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. The assailant fled the scene.<\/p>\n

Michael Healy-Rae\u2019s Thursday afternoon clinic in Tralee will go ahead, but he will not be in attendance, with staff handling constituency matters.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Street attack on Michael Healy-Rae a worrying development for our democracyOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Garda\u00ed investigating an assault on Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae in Dublin\u2019s south inner city on Wednesday have arrested…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":627585,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,7038,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-627584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-irish-politics","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627584","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=627584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}