A Fine Gael councillor who was assaulted in a pub by a man who spat in his face has raised concerns about the risks public representatives may face due to their role. Cllr Paddy Meade, a member of Meath County Council was in Boyle’s public house in Main Street, Slane on 13 th December last when a man whom he did not know approached him, verbally abused him and then spat in his face. The man, Luke Naughton (36), formerly of Dowth, Co Meath but now with an address at Rockfield Close, Ardee appeared at Trim District Court this week charged with threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour and assault on Mr Meade, pictured above.
Sergeant Alan Radcliffe told the court that the accused approached the injured party and verbally abused him. When the victim tried to walk away the accused spat in his face. Defending barrister James O’Brien said that his client had never been in trouble before the Slane incident. The defendant had written a letter setting out the background. The letter was given to Judge Eirinn McKiernan but its contents were not disclosed.
She said that the defendant’s behaviour was “totally unacceptable”. Mr O’Brien said that €500 was available as compensation to the injured party. The judge said that in the particular circumstances and taking account of the way defendant had met the case, and that he had no previous record, she was striking out the charges. “I hope he has learned his lesson”, she said. Following the conclusion of the case Mr Meade confirmed that he had not been asked to attend court or to make a victim impact statement.
He issued a statement saying “To think that the individual involved may have had no grievance with me or the council, did not know me personally other than to know I am a politician, and yet decided that this was sufficient reason to attack me is very concerning. Such an act raises serious questions about the risks public representatives may face simply due to their role”.
Luke Naughton who was before Judge Eirinn McKiernan this week described his behaviour ”totally unacceptable” at Trim District Court this week.
Referring to the incident he said that he had never met Luke Naughton prior to the evening in question and to this day he could not recall any prior interaction with him. He said that while the incident was unpleasant the aspect that troubled him most was the potential health risk from saliva entering his eyes. He had had to go for medical testing in Dublin as a precaution for a range of viral and bacterial infections. “While this may appear excessive now, at the time and not knowing the individual involved and the uncertainty about potential infections caused me genuine concern”.
He said that on the night of the incident the accused had walked in front of him, blocking him and asked “Are you Fine Gael or Fianna Fail” to which he had replied, while walking around the individual, “What’s the difference?”. Mr Meade said the accused then replied “Either way you’re a f*****g w****r”, It was immediately after this that the interaction escalated and the incident occurred, he said.
Mr Meade said he tried to resolve the matter the next day by sending a letter to the accused asking why the incident had happened, whether it would happen again and whether the person involved was sorry. He said Mr Naughton told him he did not recollect the incident.
Mr Meade said that since the incident approaches and enquiries were made to him about the incident “including from national public representatives and others”. Mr Meade said that it had been indicated during the hearing that an apology had been offered but he had not received or seen any apology. “Fundamentally I believe in democracy. It is an idea that our country holds strongly and while there are many politicians in Ireland and abroad whose views people may disagree with they have been elected by the people they represent. The day we allow people to simply attack politicians because they are politicians is a worrying one because it raises the question of how we will encourage people to step forward for public service in the future if they believe they may be subjected to that kind of behaviour”. He said the situation was concerning. He said the €500 offered in court will be given by him to charity.
Fianna Fail Cllr Caroline O’Reilly was in full support of her fellow Cllr Paddy Meade.
Cllr Meade was offered support by Cllr Caroline O’Reilly, Leas Cathaoirleach of Meath County Council who said that as elected representatives they accepted criticism and disagreement as part of public life but there was a clear line between that and abuse or assault. “Being spat on and assaulted simply because someone is a politician is completely unacceptable. The outcome does not seem to reflect the seriousness of what occurred and incidents like this should be treated seriously if we want people to feel safe serving their communities.”
In an unrelated case last September another Fine Gael councillor in Meath, Alan Tobin, told how he had thought twice about being a public representative after a 50-year-old man threatened to kill or maim him as he went about doing voluntary work in Ashbourne. In January too, Fine Gael Councillor Yemi Adenuga reported that she was racially abused and spat on by a man while walking in the town in Navan. All councillors and the Ceo of Meath County Council condemned the incident and stood with the councillor giving their full support.
