O Snodaigh says car thief punched him

Gardaí in west Dublin are investigating a complaint by Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh, who claims he was punched in the face by a car thief driving recklessly on Sunday.

Mr Ó Snodaigh claimed he suffered a broken nose after an altercation near his home in Ballyfermot. While a Garda spokeswoman would not identify the TD as the victim of the alleged assault, she said gardaí were investigating an incident at Decies Road, Ballyfermot, at about 5.45pm on Sunday.

Mr Ó Snodaigh said he did not strike his assailant. However, the TD said he picked up one the people involved and threw him into a garden when the youth went to strike him again.

He said the assault occurred after he was nearly run off the road when he was returning from the Sinn Féin ardfheis. The person was driving "extremely recklessly" in an area in which there were always young children at play, he said.

"Concerned about the safety of not only my own children but also of the other kids on the road, I challenged the occupants of one car to stop their activity but they sped off. I contacted the gardaí to alert them to the presence of joyriders in the area."

Mr Ó Snodaigh said he did not know the occupants of the car but said they were in their late teens or early 20s. He approached the operator of an ice-cream van to warn him that up to four cars were being driven at speed around the area.

"It was while I was talking to this man that a second car came along. The car stopped because they couldn't get past the ice-cream van. I approached the car to ask the occupants to stop because of the threat they posed to local children.

"It was then that one of the occupants got out of the car and punched me in the face. When other neighbours came out of their homes the joyriders left the area pursued by the gardaí."

Mr Ó Snodaigh said reckless driving was an ongoing and potentially lethal problem in Ballyfermot.

"Thankfully yesterday evening it ended in nothing more than a bloodied nose for myself. And while I would like to congratulate the gardaí for their prompt response, I am still fearful that some young child is going to be tragically killed if we don't tackle this issue."