Minister Anne Rabbitte has ‘bag of s**t’ thrown at her while attending meeting

Minister of State for Disability Rabbitte said both she and another government colleague, whom she did not name, were subjected to the attack on Wednesday.

Fellow Minister of State, Pippa Hackett, said she hoped the perpetrators are caught and prosecuted.

“Solidarity with my government colleague Anne Rabbitte, 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,” Ms Hackett said.

Senator Pauline O’Reilly said the attack should be condemned right across the political spectrum.

“The way that Anne Rabbitte has been treated this evening 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,” Senator O’Reilly said.

Numerous other politicians expressed their disgust over the incident with TD John Lahart saying: “Disgusting. Unacceptable. I’m speechless,” while Deputy Neale Richmond described the incident as “awful”.

Green Party Councillor Maria Dollard said the incident is typical of what politicians encounter.

"This is what public representatives have to deal with and it starts with verbal abuse and personalised attacks. GP reps often subjected to that kind of abuse as well. Think hard those that attack the person online because you are part of this," Cllr Dollard said.