Father says gardaí ‘manhandled’ his daughter at Dáil

The father of a child with special needs has claimed his young daughter was “manhandled” by gardaí at Leinster House as they attempted to deliver a letter of appeal to Enda Kenny over education needs.

James McDonagh said his daughter Angel, 13, was physically removed by gardaí from the entrance of the Oireachtas and that she was left traumatised.

He was trying to deliver a letter of complaint to the Taoiseach over a lack of education facilities for his daughter.

Angel, who was visibly disturbed afterwards, has a mental age of eight and is not in school after being expelled from her special needs class at St Michael’s House in Dublin.

Mr McDonagh, from Blackrock, Co Dublin, said: “I came here today to protest, which is my democratic right, and deliver a letter to Enda Kenny. The gardaí stopped me and Angel from delivering that letter to him. They manhandled myself and my special needs child out of the Dáil.”

Mr McDonagh said he, Angel, and his other child Michael, 11, attempted to walk through the main gates but were told by gardaí that they would have to enter through the security hut. “That’s [in the hut] when I got surrounded by a load of gardaí and Angel got very frightened.

“When that happened, she didn’t know who to give the letter to so I gave it to the clerk because we obviously were not being allowed in. Then the gardaí almost lifted us and [said] get out. I told the gardaí to back off.

“Enda Kenny’s the Taoiseach of the country, it’s within his right to help Angel. At the moment, she’s no school because she’s been expelled from St Michael’s House, a special needs school, because they could no longer cope with her needs. There’s a psychiatric report that says Angel needs specialist treatment which the HSE has to provide and it is refusing to provide that since January of this year.”

An Oireachtas spokesperson confirmed an incident took place, adding: “The usher staff that man the gates of Leinster House operate under clear and strict guidelines.”

Members of the public cannot enter Leinster House grounds without a letter of invitation or an arranged pass. A Garda spokesperson said ushers refused entrance to the man and gardaí stood in front of him when he was determined to enter the grounds. “At no stage was he or his daughter manhandled,” it was added.

Mr McDonagh previously held a protest outside the Dáil over his young daughter’s plight in 2009.