Doctors monitoring seriously-ill Jimmy Harte

Doctors are monitoring Labour Senator Jimmy Harte on an hourly basis as he remains in hospital in a critical but stable condition.

The Donegal politician suffered serious head injuries in a fall in Dublin at the weekend.

It is understood the 55-year-old remains in an induced coma at Beaumont Hospital, while tests are ongoing to establish the extent of damage caused.

A Labour Party spokesman said the father-of-four’s family are staying close to the hospital should there be further developments in his condition.

“He is being monitored very closely and his family will be keeping an eye for any results from tests that should be coming through,” he said. “He was admitted to hospital in a very, very serious condition and he remains critical.

“His family have been encouraged and heartened by the good wishes that he is receiving from the people within the Labour Party, and indeed other political parties, and from the wider public.”

The senator, from Letterkenny in Co Donegal, was found collapsed on the street at Newmarket Square in Dublin’s south inner city at around 3am on Saturday morning. He was taken to Beaumont Hospital, which specialises in head injuries, with a fractured skull.

He underwent emergency surgery on Saturday to relieve swelling to his brain and has been under constant watch in the intensive care unit since. There has been no major change to his condition so far today.

Gardai have viewed CCTV footage and interviewed witnesses who were in the area of Newmarket Square where he was discovered. They are satisfied the injuries were sustained as a result of an accidental fall rather than any assault.

The insurance broker had been attending the Republic of Ireland v Latvia football international friendly at the Aviva stadium in Ballsbridge, south Dublin, earlier in the evening.

Mr Harte’s jacket and keys were missing for a period up until yesterday afternoon giving rise to fears that he may have been robbed of the jacket while injured on the ground. However, both were found in a pub on Dawson Street in Dublin’s south inner city where he had spent some time on Friday night