Patrick O’Donovan thought he might die after collapsing in Dáil

Patrick O’Donovan collapsed in an aggressive fit while speaking in the Dail chamber in June 2023. Picture: Niall Carson/PA

Minister Patrick O’Donovan has said he thought he might by dying during an epileptic episode in Leinster House two years ago.

He said he was “terrified” when he collapsed in an aggressive fit while speaking in the Dáil chamber in June 2023.

He said on Sunday that, at the time, he did not know whether he was going to live or die.

Mr O’Donovan, who recently revealed to the Sunday Independent that he has a photo sensitivity that manifests itself into epilepsy, elaborated on the experience on the Anton Savage Show on Newstalk.

The Arts Minister said he was revealing his disability following criticism around his level of participation at cultural events.

Before I knew where I was, all of the power in my limbs was beginning to leave me

While speaking in the Dáil chamber, he said he started to feel the sensations in his body “beginning to go” and he started stuttering “really badly”.

While he has had a stutter on occasion since childhood, he added: “But this was a really bad one.

“And the next thing, before I knew where I was, all of the power in my limbs was beginning to leave me.”

The situation deteriorated by the second and he ended up lying down on one of the Government benches.

“I could hear everything but I couldn’t see anything and I couldn’t speak and I had no sensation anywhere.”

Asked if he thought there was a chance he was dying, he said: “Yeah, I did. I thought this one was so big and was lasting so long, it was so violent and aggressive, that they couldn’t get it under control.”

Mr O’Donovan added: “I’ve often jokingly said at home that I thought I was going to be a table quiz question: ‘Who was the first TD to die in the Dáil chamber?'”

Mr O’Donovan said he had lived with the condition for years without it being diagnosed, suffering a number of episodes.

He said it felt like the “bottom had fallen out” of his world when he was eventually diagnosed, but the confirmation also came with a sense of relief: “I always knew there was something physically wrong with me, as did my wife, because I could feel it.”