Fine Gael TD Sean Conlan arrested over alleged assault

Fine Gael TD Sean Conlan has been arrested in connection with an alleged assault in a pub.

He was questioned in relation to an alleged assault which took place in a pub in Ballybay, Co Monaghan, on August 23rd this year.

A Garda spokesman confirmed Mr Conlan had presented himself at Castleblayney Garda station and was arrested under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act on Tuesday morning.

Mr Conlan, a TD for Cavan Monaghan was questioned in connection with the row which resulted in a man in his 20s being arrested.

Mr Conlan made a statement to gardaí and is believed to have claimed he was being abused by a man in the pub. He was released without charge shortly after 1.30pm.

In a statement after his release Mr Conlan said: “I attended the Garda station in Castleblayney this morning voluntarily to give my statement of complaint to the gardaí about the assault which was perpetrated on me in my family pub last Sunday.

“I co-operated fully with the gardaí. As this is an ongoing investigation I will be making no further comment in relation to the matter.”

A file will be sent to the DPP for a decision on whether a criminal prosecution is justified based on the information collected by gardaí.

The Garda team investigating the case has received a formal statement of complaint from a man who alleges he was attacked in the pub owned by the Dáil TD but which is leased to a third party.

The injured man has claimed he was stabbed by his attacker with a broken glass and required a number of stitches.

Gardaí attended the scene on the night, though no arrests were made at that point.

One man who was with the injured individual at the time of the incident gave a detailed statement to gardaí shortly after the alleged attack.

Formal complaint

The injured man’s medical care and need for recovery in the days that followed delayed his lodging of a formal complaint.

However, he has since given a detailed statement to gardaí.

Mr Conlan was one of a number of people present in the pub when the incident occurred.

Several witnesses had been spoken to prior to Mr Conlan’s arrest.

Their statements, describing the circumstances of how the man was injured and the build up to the row, form an important part of case.

Mr Conlan is also at the centre of an Employment Appeals Tribunal dispute, which is to be heard on Wednesday.

He is appealing a judgment which directed him to pay €25,000 to his former secretarial assistant, Cathy Shevlin.

Ms Shevlin took a case for unfair dismissal against the Cavan Monaghan TD.

She claimed she had been bullied and harassed by him and his parliamentary assistant and girlfriend Ms Sarah Comiskey.

The Monaghan TD also hit the headlines last year when he had a dispute with a British antiques dealer who wrote to the Taoiseach when she could not contact the TD about a €10,000 ring.

She believed Mr Conlan intended to buy it for his fiancee, but he decided not to purchase after he had it appraised.

Mr Conlan later said the matter had been resolved and that the ring had been returned.

Mr Conlan accused the Taoiseach of attempting to damage his reputation by leaking an email from the antiques dealer to the press.

Mr Kenny has rejected any suggestion that his department deliberately leaked any information.