TD to make formal complaint after 'being pushed by garda' before All-Ireland
'I will [complain] tomorrow, guaranteed, because we did not deserve that,' the deputy told the Irish Mirror on Sunday evening, several hours after the incident in Dublin city centre.
The politician was with dozens of fellow Kerry fans in the Cathedral Street street area of the inner city - beside O'Connell Street - when the incident happened.
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The incident was caught on camera and was posted online - before quickly going viral. It had been viewed around 100,000 times on social media sites by Sunday night
The footage appears to show a uniformed garda using one hand to move Deputy Healy-Rae away from him. The incident started when hundreds of Kerry fans were lining the street ahead of the Croke Park showdown with Donegal for Sam Maguire - and face off their county would later win. Danny Healy-Rae was allegedly pushed by a garda before Sunday's All-Ireland final
Several fans noticed Deputy Healy-Rae - who was wearing a Kerry hat and lanyard - walking along the street. He acknowledged the cheers and waved to the fans before walking a few yards.
He stopped to wave to fans again, before turning to walk down the street - which is when the incident with the garda happened. The two men walk close to each other and then the garda appears to stick out a hand to move the deputy out of his way.
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The garda then walks on, but a clearly upset Deputy Healy-Rae goes back to approach the officer. The two men talk to each other for a few seconds before they go their separate ways - while the crowd starts booing.
Speaking after Kerry's 1-26 to 0-19 victory over Donegal, Deputy Healy-Rae said he was disappointed by the officer's actions.
And he said he would be making a complaint on Monday morning. Such complaints are handled by Fiosru, the independent policing watchdog.
He said: 'I will tomorrow. I am too busy today, I have a lot of calls there to answer and stuff. I will tomorrow, guaranteed, because we did not deserve that. We came up for no trouble - we came up supporting our team. I expected better from the gardai.' Independent Kerry TD Danny Healy-Rae has said he will now make a complaint over the incident. (Image: Gareth Chaney Collins)
The Kerry TD praised said the other gardai on duty were fine. He said: 'There were other lovely gardai there and they were doing their duty.
Deputy Healy-Rae said he had been inundated with comments from other Kerry fans - including those who witnessed the incident.
He said: 'They are all talking to me about it. They booed the garda and everything at that stage. I am disappointed with his behaviour. I did nothing to deserve that. There was no trouble. I just don't know.'
The Irish Mirror contacted gardai for comment on Sunday evening. A spokeswoman said in a statement: 'An Garda Síochána does not comment on unverified social media content. Any person who wishes to report the conduct of a member of An Garda Síochána can do so by contacting Fiosrú.'
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