Visitor to my office ‘wanted to cut my head off’, says Ceann Comhairle

In a wide-ranging interview with the Irish Examiner, Mr Ó Fearghaíl has confirmed that a formal invitation to address the Houses of the Oireachtas in person is being sent to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

He has also been in contact with the Palestinian Ambassador to Ireland to explore the possibility of welcoming the President of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, to Leinster House to speak.

Meanwhile, he confirmed that plans to create a second Dáil chamber, in a bid to make politics more family friendly, have now been rejected by the political leaders.

Regarding safety, Mr Ó Fearghaíl said that overall he has enjoyed a "relatively abuse-free existence". However he conceded there has been "telephone calls to the office and visits to the office" over his political career.

Mr Ó Fearghaíl said politicians can sometimes be confronted by vulnerable people suffering from mental health issues and need support, but warned that there are a "tiny, tiny minority of very menacing characters" from which threats should be taken very seriously.

"There was a visitor to the office some months ago who wanted to cut my head off," said Mr Ó Fearghaíl.

However, he played down the incident and said this "wasn't deemed a serious threat".

While the security of elected representatives and their staff is highly important, Mr Ó Fearghaíl cautioned against severely curtailing access to the Dáil.

This needs to be a welcoming, open parliament, it is the people's parliament, they have an absolute right to come here, now that right is tempered by the need to ensure proper security.

Following the work of a special task force which looked at the safety of politicians and those working in Leinster House, he said there is now a "very close working relationship" with the gardaí that "we didn't have before now".

"The Oireachtas management here meet with senior gardaí on a weekly basis to look at security issues around Leinster House. The crime prevention officers have visited every TD and senator's home and office where they've been requested to do so around the country to see what measures need to be put in place to enhance security.

"We have to try and create an environment wherein the best possible people will feel that they can come forward and serve without being abused or threatened or without their families being abused or threatened."

One of the key recommendations of the family-friendly forum was that a second chamber be set up, however, the Ceann Comhairle has now acknowledged that this does not have the political support to go ahead.

"I've discussed that particular recommendation with all the political leaders on more than one occasion and we haven't got buy-in. Without political buy-in it can't happen.

"The report stands and the proposal stands, but as far as I'm concerned, it has been a singular failure on my part to convince colleagues in other parties that we need to move forward.

I do see it is a very sensible proposal, I see it as something that would allow us to respond to modern Ireland and to a modern political situation.

"I think maybe in time it's something that will come to pass," he said, adding that he believes it would make the work of the Dáil more effective and more family friendly.

When asked about the next election, Mr Ó Fearghaíl said: "The Taoiseach has said Spring, end of term; the Tánaiste has said Spring, end of term; Minister for Finance has said likewise and so has the Minister for Public Expenditure. Our four most senior ministers - clear and unambiguous statements made by them.

"There's number one a requirement for leaders to speak the truth, which I believe they're speaking, and a requirement on the rest of us who are part of body politic to accept that and not just add and generate more and more and more cynicism, because if we can't believe them about something like this, how will we believe anybody about anything?"