‘If I refuse to serve I’m in trouble; if I serve this happens’

A prominent publican who was badly beaten after he refused to serve a Traveller has described the issue of equality as “a no-win situation” for pub owners.

Paddy Hogan, the brother of Environment Minister Phil Hogan, was set upon by a gang throwing bottles, glasses, and a hanging basket as he attempted to stop the angry mob entering his pub on Sunday night.

Mr Hogan, who owns The Hogan Stand in Tullow, Co Carlow, was subjected to an attack by up to a dozen men and women, which left him hospitalised after his face was cut by flying glass.