Cecelia Ahern reveals hurt at verbal and physical attacks on Bertie

“Nobody wants to hear of their dad, you know, being hit over the head with a crutch. It’s awful...”

It could be the opening lines of the latest novel from writer Cecelia Ahern, daughter of former taoiseach Bertie.

Instead, it is her response to the news that her father had been attacked in the Sean O’Casey pub off O’Connell St in Dublin, by a disabled man wielding a crutch.