Students reject O’Cuív claim of self-defence during protest

STUDENTS have rejected Éamon Ó Cuív’s claim he was protecting himself and an assistant when he grabbed a protester during a demonstration in Galway on Tuesday night.

National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) student union president Muireann O’Dwyer said the Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Minister stepped away from a security guard who was bringing him and one of his constituency staff through a door and grabbed hold of the student by his jacket.

She said there was no threat of violence or assault against the minister, as he had claimed there was, in the lead-up to the incident.