Man arrested following attack on independent TD Michael Healy-Rae

Gardaí investigating an assault on independent TD Michael Healy-Rae in Dublin have arrested a man.

Mr Healy-Rae was travelling in his own vehicle in the city on Wednesday when he was approached by a male who assaulted him through the window of his car.

The Kerry TD has said he will not be deterred from his work following the incident.

It is understood Mr Healy-Rae, a former minister of state, was stopped in traffic when a lone man approached his vehicle and assaulted him.

Mr Healy-Rae who was driving from the Dáil, received medical treatment in Kevin Street Garda station.

It is understood he was then taken onward to St Vincent’s Hospital.

A statement said: “Gardaí have arrested a male aged in his 50s in relation to an assault that occurred on Cork Street, Dublin 8 on Wednesday 16th September 2026.

“The male is currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 in a Garda Station in the Dublin Metropolitan Region.

“Investigations are ongoing.”

Speaking before the arrest, Assistant Commissioner for Dublin Metropolitan Region Jonathan Roberts said Mr Healy-Rae was a “well-known public figure”, adding “the motivation cannot be ruled out that it was due to his role as an elected representative”.

In a statement released on social media, Mr Healey-Rae said: “We do need to have a serious conversation about the growing toxicity directed towards politicians and public representatives.

“Disagreement and robust political debate are entirely legitimate, but personal abuse, intimidation and violence can never be accepted or normalised in a democratic society.”

He added: “I am also deeply grateful to the thousands of people from Kerry and across the country who have contacted me and my family.”

Mr Healy-Rae said he was back in Kerry and looking forward to getting back to work.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he wanted to “condemn unreservedly” the “shocking assault”.

He said: “I spoke to Michael last night, he’s quite shook and it resulted in a considerable number of stitches.”

The Irish premier described the attack as “very, very serious and worrying and concerning”, and he said it was “an attack on democracy”.

Mr Martin added: “There seems to be an increased propensity for violence, for aggression, for hostility in our society, and that’s something that’s extremely regrettable, and we have a lot of work to do to pull back that.

“It’s not universal across the board, but certain elements are emerging in a sort of natural, aggressive, hostile way.

“We’ve never had this before in our society, and our democracy is relatively unusual in the sense that our members of parliament and the ministers themselves can walk towards streets unhindered.”

Sinn Féin president Mary-Lou McDonald said the attack should be a “wake up call”.

Speaking to reporters in Belfast she said: “First off I wish Michael only the best, I am sure he is pretty shook after that experience, it’s very, very shocking for anybody to be attacked on the street.

“Needless to say it shouldn’t have happened and there can only be a zero tolerance to that type of behaviour.

“I think people in public life have to at all times be cognisant of their safety, having said that, for the most part people are respectful and decent. Those that carry out an attack like this are in the very very tiny minority but they are amongst us.

“We have to be able to move freely in our communities and to go about our work.

“I think people are very shocked by this, maybe it’s a little bit of a wake up call around people’s safety, and we’re public figures and elected representatives, of course you have to be accountable and people have to be free to challenge you, but we enjoy the same rights as any other citizen to go about safely when we’re going about our business.”