Irish PM worried over hostility to politicians after lawmaker assaulted

DUBLIN, Sept 17 (Reuters) – Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin on Thursday condemned an assault on an independent politician as “an attack on democracy” and said the country needed to take very seriously a rise in hostility to those in office.

Attacks on Irish politicians are rare but lawmakers have reported an increase in intimidation in recent years.

Irish police said they had arrested a man in his 50s in relation to an assault in central Dublin on Wednesday. 

Michael Healy-Rae, 59, who until April was a junior minister in the centre-right-led coalition and is one of the best-known politicians in the country, was discharged from hospital after treatment for face wounds that required stitches.

Healy-Rae is part of a political dynasty of independent lawmakers from the southern county of Kerry. National broadcaster RTE aired a prime-time, 90-minute documentary on the family last month.

He said in a statement a conversation was required about the growing toxicity towards politicians. 

Martin told a news conference the assault on Healy-Rae reflected what seemed to be “an increased propensity for violence, for aggression, for hostility in our society”.

“We never had this before in our society and our democracy is relatively unusual in the sense that our members of parliament, indeed, ministers and even myself, can walk through our streets unhindered, and this is a significant moment that we have to take very seriously,” he said.

Police said they did not yet know the perpetrator’s motivation but did not rule out that it was due to Healy-Rae’s position as a public figure.

(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; editing by Barbara Lewis)