Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman was grabbed by the shoulders and subjected to apparent homophobic abuse while canvassing for the general election, a court heard.
The incident happened on November 2nd while the Minister for Integration went door-to-door around the Erris Square, Waterville area in Blanchardstown, Dublin.
Salesman Karl Ronan (45) of Erris Square, Waterville, Blanchardstown, had admitted assaulting Mr O’Gorman, threatening and abusive behaviour and damaging his clipboard.
He pleaded guilty last month and appeared again before Judge David McHugh at Blanchardstown District Court on Tuesday.
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The judge noted McHugh had emailed an apology to the politician, which has been accepted.
In an outline of the facts, the court heard Ronan “lost control”, pushed O’Gorman off his property and threw his clipboard, which broke off a wall.
The judge described his actions as “appalling”, “deliberate”, and “homophobic, it would appear”.
He is considering 200 hours of community service instead of four months imprisonment and has adjourned the case until a date in February.
In evidence, Garda Joseph Rogers said Mr O’Gorman was canvassing at Erris Square at 12.40pm on November 2nd, 2024.
He was talking to the defendant outside his home, but Ronan became aggressive, grabbed his clipboard and threw it against a wall, breaking it.
The court heard Ronan told Mr O’Gorman to leave the estate and pushed him off his property before grabbing the TD by the shoulders and demanding he leave the estate.
Mr O’Gorman’s Garda protection officer intervened and led him away.
However, Ronan followed while recording them on his phone saying: “Don’t come back.”
The court heard he also told Mr O’Gorman: “You have an old woman minding you, you big fairy.”
The defendant had two previous convictions for minor road traffic offences.
His solicitor, Simon Fleming, conceded this was “a shameful act” and commented that it was “an affront to the whole democratic process”.
However, the solicitor stressed that Ronan did not have far-right political views.
He said his client, a father of two, had lost his business due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He had employed five people until then and was upset about that loss.
The court heard Ronan had also donated €500, in O’Gorman’s name, to St Francis Hospice.
His victim impact statement was not read out during the hearing, but the defence solicitor said the TD was “a very compassionate and forgiving” person, and he had accepted Ronan’s apology.
The solicitor said his client had “lost control” and had “made a fool of himself” and would have to deal with the publicity surrounding the incident.
The judge said the aggravating factor was that this was an assault on an individual rendering a public service. However, he noted Ronan’s early guilty plea, that he had apologised to the politician and co-operated with gardaí.
The judge adjourned the case for the Probation Service to prepare a community service suitability report.
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