18 months on, how does this Fine Gael TD reflect on Lapgate?

Aine Collins spoke to TheJournal.ie about how the infamous Dáil incident was “a missed opportunity”.

IT WAS AN incident that gained worldwide notoriety and raised fresh questions about the availability of alcohol in Leinster House.

Aine Collins was the Fine Gael TD at the centre of what became known as ‘Lapgate’ after her party colleague Tom Barry hauled her onto his lap during a late night debate on the abortion legislation in July 2013.

lapgate Oireachtas TV Oireachtas TV

Barry later apologised and Collins has sought to put the matter behind her in the months that followed.

When she spoke to TheJournal.ie during the week we asked for her reflections on the incident and also what advice she’d have for a first-time TD:

Video TheJournal.ie / YouTube

Read: Male TD pulls female colleague into his lap – in the Dáil chamber

Read: ‘I saw fear in TDs’ eyes’: An oral history of how Ireland legislated for X

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