Gardai are investigating an incident that allegedly saw excrement thrown at junior minister Anne Rabbitte and Fine Gael TD Ciaran Cannon.
It is understood that the incident happened at a public meeting about a proposed bio-gas plant in Gort, Co Galway, on Wednesday evening.
Ms Rabbitte, Fianna Fail TD for Galway East and Minister of State for Disability, posted about the ordeal on Twitter on Wednesday evening.
READ MORE: Horror as bag of excrement 'thrown' at junior minister Anne Rabbitte
She said: “Attended a meeting tonight and a bag of sh*t thrown a me and my government colleague."
Mr Cannon later confirmed that he was with Ms Rabbitte at the time.
“So an idiot goes to the bother of putting excrement (human or animal, yet unknown) into two bags and throws one at me and one at Anne,” he tweeted.
“All part of the job you might say, but I can understand why fewer people want this job.”
A Garda spokesperson confirmed to the Irish Mirror on Thursday morning that they are investigating this incident.
“An Garda Síochána are investigating all the circumstances relating to an incident that occurred at a public meeting in Gort [on] Wednesday 4th January, 2023,” they said.
Ms Rabbitte is said to be taken aback by the ordeal.
The attack was widely condemned by other politicians, with many replying to Ms Rabbitte’s tweet to commiserate with her.
Green Party Minister Pippa Hackett wrote: “Solidarity with my government colleague @AnneRabbitte, who was doing her job, as she does every day with compassion and commitment.
“What a disgusting thing to do. We can’t allow anybody be treated like this. I hope the perpetrator is identified and prosecuted.”
Green Party Senator Pauline O’Reilly said that the incident should be “called out by everyone, regardless of politics”.
“I know Anne to be a decent and fair politician, and this should not be tolerated in our society,” she said.
Minister Rabbitte’s Fianna Fáil colleague John Lahart described the report as “disgusting” and “unacceptable”.
Fine Gael’s Neale Richmond, meanwhile, replied: “That’s awful, sorry to hear that Anne, take care.”
Fine Gael Minister Josepha Madigan described the incident as “shocking”.
“So sorry you had to endure such a horrible experience,” she said.
The Labour Party’s Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said it was “disgusting behaviour” “.
He added: “Why would we encourage anyone to enter politics with abuse like that from those who can’t handle civilised debate?”
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