Councillor contests Harney paint assault charge

A councillor has pleaded not guilty at Dublin District Court to assaulting Health Minister Mary Harney who was splattered with red paint at a hospital last November.

Minister Harney, who now may have to give evidence in the trial, had paint thrown at her during a sod-turning ceremony for a new primary care and mental health unit at Cherry Orchard Hospital in west Dublin, on November 1 last.