Male TD pulls female colleague into his lap - in the Dáil chamber

Fine Gael TD Tom Barry grabbed his colleague Áine Collins during a break in the abortion debate, but Fine Gael say there ‘was no malice involved’.

By Paul Hosford Thursday 11 Jul 2013, 9:56 AM

Jul 11th 2013, 9:56 AM 49,742 Views 227 Comments

https://jrnl.ie/987972

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=G7j20etLJk8

AN INCIDENT IN which a Fine Gael TD grabbed a female colleague and forced her to sit on his lap has been called ‘silly’.

In the video of the incident, which occurred during a break in the debate of the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill, Fine Gael TD Áine Collins is seen walking past her colleague Tom Barry. As she playfully slaps the Cork East TD on the arm, he puts his arms around her waist and pulls her into his lap.

A Fine Gael spokesperson said that the incident, while ‘silly’ had ‘no malice involved’.

It was a silly incident that probably shouldn’t have happened, but the two of them are good friends and there was no malice involved.

Reaction on Twitter, however has struck a different note with Barry being described as a ‘caveman’.

Neither Collins nor Barry were available to comment.

Hat tip; @Mergito

Read: The abortion debate – what happens next?

Read: Debate on abortion bill adjourned at 5am

Short URL

About the author:

About the author

Paul Hosford

@PTHosford

paulhosford@thejournal.ie

See more articles by Paul Hosford

Contribute to this story:

Send a Correction

COMMENTS (227)

∞

About Us

Corrections

Report Content

Policies

TheJournal.ie is a full participating member of the Press Council of Ireland and supports the Office of the Press Ombudsman. This scheme in addition to defending the freedom of the press, offers readers a quick, fair and free method of dealing with complaints that they may have in relation to articles that appear on our pages. To contact the Office of the Press Ombudsman Lo-Call 1890 208 080 or go to www.pressombudsman.ie or www.presscouncil.ie

Please note that TheJournal.ie uses cookies to improve your experience and to provide services and advertising. For more information on cookies please refer to our cookies policy.

News images provided by Press Association and Photocall Ireland unless otherwise stated. Irish sport images provided by Inpho Photography unless otherwise stated. Wire service provided by Associated Press.

Journal Media does not control and is not responsible for user created content, posts, comments, submissions or preferences. Users are reminded that they are fully responsible for their own created content and their own posts, comments and submissions and fully and effectively warrant and indemnify Journal Media in relation to such content and their ability to make such content, posts, comments and submissions available. Journal Media does not control and is not responsible for the content of external websites.

Male TD pulls female colleague into his lap - in the Dáil chamber

Fine Gael TD Tom Barry grabbed his colleague Áine Collins during a break in the abortion debate, but Fine Gael say there ‘was no malice involved’.

Read: The abortion debate – what happens next?