The farmer, who has been very vocal locally since carrying out the act, wished to remain anonymous when chatting to Galway Beo just hours after two bags of dry cow poo were thrown in the direction of TDs Ciaran Cannon and Anne Rabbitte at a public meeting to discuss plans recently approved by An Bord Pleanala for a Biogas facility outside Gort.
Both Government officials were at the meeting in Gort on Wednesday night over the controversial Biogas plant which has been given the green light when the Gort native approached the microphone "and threw one bag towards Cannon before lobbing a second in the direction of Minister Rabbitte.
The man then left the meeting but re-entered later and remained in close proximity to the two TDs.
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Galway Beo spoke to the man, behind the incident who acted alone when filling the two ziplock bags of cow dung manure from his farm.
He told Galway Beo: "I threw the bags on the floor in front of the TDs, first Ciaran Cannon and then Anne Rabbitte. Their government wants to build a Biogas plant in this town. They want to bring shite in to this town. Those bags were completely and fully sealed, it was dry manure. I didn't pelt them at them like a baseball player. I tossed the bags in front of them, like you'd toss a coin."
The man explained that before he tossed the bags, he said: "If ye want to bring shite into this town, here's some shite for ye."
The man admitted that he wouldn't have liked to have someone throw the objects at him but insists that it should not have scared the pair.
He said: "They could see what was coming, I only tossed the bags on the ground near them. And I stood there for two minutes afterwards, went outside, then came back in and stayed until the end of the meeting."
When asked if he would like to apologise for throwing the two bags of dry cow manure, he gave a firm "No", describing the performance of the TDs as a "joke and a farce".
He concluded: "I am sick of talking about it. I'm only thinking of my community at the end of the day. There was a huge amount of flaws in the An Bord Pleanala report and yet the Biogas plant was approved while farmers in the area can't even drain their land. I know the government don't directly rule An Bord Pleanala but An Bord Pleanala follow the guidelines."
But Gort Bio Gas Concern Group has labelled the actions as "utterly disgraceful".
A spokesman for Gort Bio Gas Concern Group told Galway Beo: "Most people at the meeting would agree that while the topic was emotive - this was an informative calm. collected and respectful meeting. Thanks again for support thanks to our elected representatives who have supported us throughout.”
He added: "We got an amazing amount of support from a fantastic community. Thanks to everybody who supported us. Our goal was to inform people of what’s happening and next steps and get support for financing a legal challenge.
Minister Rabbitte said that the "feet were taken from under her" after the shock of the incident. She said: "I was very disappointed that that incident happened. That person was very angry and annoyed with myself and Ciaran. I just felt very let down."
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