RODERIC O’Gorman has vowed not to give in to attacks and threats after he was attacked while campaigning for the vote.

And the Green Party The leader said the incident could have had serious consequences if the guard had not intervened to protect him.

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He also denied predictions that his party would be wiped out in the coming months. General election as he argues for a multi-billion euro overhaul of the Irish system public transport to Irish Sun readers.

From his first week as Minister of ChildrenEquality, Disability and integration, Mr O’Gorman – who is gay – has been the target of extremely vile homophobic abuse online.

THE MINISTER’S TEST

And it only got worse as he came under pressure to find accommodation for refugees – with his ministry forced to take over buildings in towns and villages across the country.

Recently, the Dublin West TD was attacked during a surveywith his Garda close protection officer forced to intervene to stop the assault.

Salesman Karl Ronan, 45, of Erris Square in Dublin 15, pleaded guilty to minor assault, damaging a clipboard and breaching the peace.

He has not yet been sentenced for the assault, with Mr O’Gorman telling the Irish Sun on Sunday that he had not yet decided whether to submit a victim impact statement in the case.

Speaking about the incident, he said: “I was canvassing with a group and got chatting to a guy at a door.

“It started to get a little heated and eventually he turned to me.

“Without the intervention of the garda, my protection officer, I think it would have become quite serious.”

The incident worried his family as he faces three weeks of canvassing before we head to the polls on November 29.

GREEN CHEF TAKES THE IRISH SUN LEADERS QUIZ

WANT to know the person behind the politician? Here, the Green Party leader takes our Irish Sun Leaders Quiz to see how well he knows his punters.

• Q. How much did a general admission ticket to Croke Park Oasis cost?

“I’ve always been a Blur man so I have no idea to be completely honest with you. I didn’t even recognize him.”

FAKE: The correct answer is €86.50, before moving to €176

• What was the most watched Irish TV show last year?

“Dancing with the Stars.”

FAKE: The correct answer is The Late Late Toy Show

• Who is the manager of the Irish men’s football team?

“Pass.”

FAKE: The correct answer is Heimir Hallgrimsson

• How much does the 90-minute train and bus ride to Dublin cost?

“It’s €1.20.”

FAKE: The correct answer is €2

• How many loaves of bread in a supermarket?

“2€”

CORRECT: it’s 2€

1/5: Obviously not crazy about Oasis or football, he scored against his camp by not knowing the transport fare introduced by his own party.

But the Greens leader says he will NOT let the attacks stop him from fighting for votes.

He said: “I was back that afternoon and I was back on following day.

‘REALLY IMPORTANT’

“I’ve been canvassing in Dublin West for 20 years now. It took me a long time to build up a vote in the area, but I always enjoyed it.

“I think it’s really important in Ireland for politicians to go out and knock on people’s doors and ask to vote.

“This makes us really different from Germany or France where they have big rallies, but the politicians don’t really engage with the people.

“I think it creates a divide between politicians on one side and voters on the other.

“We don’t have that in Ireland. I know people say we do, but in reality we don’t.

“Because you will see government ministers going to a local meeting about a school or a local fundraiser because that’s part of the role here.

“I WILL CONTINUE GOING OUT”

“I think it would be terrible if politicians from any party or independents started to feel nervous or reluctant to come out.

“I think it would change the nature of Irish democracy for the worse. That’s why I don’t give in to this kind of thing. I’m going to continue going out.

The attack is only one of the many confrontations the minister had in recent years – including one which led him to believe that the Irish public transportation The system must be made more secure, with the possible introduction of a new police unit.

Early in this government, Mr O’Gorman was on the train home when a drunk man started punching a teenager and things got heated.

He said: “A guy was drunk and he was hitting a young boy, a teenager, and it was starting to get a bit more aggressive.

“Myself and a few others kind of told him to lay off and I actually stayed an extra stop just to see that the young kid was doing well.

“But then the guy started to warm up to me. I had to call my other half and make a quick evacuation.

TRANSPORT FOCUSED

Mr O’Gorman says the incident showed him how vulnerable people can be on public transport.

And make buses, trains and safer trams will be a key issue the Greens focus on in their manifesto.

Unsurprisingly, their main election speech will focus on public transport.

This follows fares falling in recent years and an increase in the number of bus routes across the country.

Mr O’Gorman tells The Irish Sun his party would use Apple’s €14bn tax money to accelerate the delivery of major public transport projects, such as the Dublin Metro and the Galway and Cork Luas lines.

He also wants the billions from this windfall to be channeled to the Land Development Agency to build more public buildings. houses on the public domain.

On public transport, it promises to end the nightmare of “ghost buses” which see passengers abandoned at stops where a regular bus disappears from the system and never shows up.

He wants to achieve this by introducing a “reliability and punctuality” unit within the National Transport Authority.

And if the Greens are often accused of “hating the roads” by their political opponents because of their financing of bike and bus infrastructure, Mr O’Gorman is quick to attack this.

He said: “We are not anti-roads but we will never apologize for being really ambitious in terms of investment in public transport. »

ELECTORAL AMBITIONS

Mr O’Gorman was elected leader of the Greens following the retirement of Eamon Ryanwho brought the party back from the brink and brought it to government with 12 DT.

The Greens lost their two MEPs, Ciaran Cuffe and Grace O’Sullivan, in June’s European elections.

And they only represent 4 percent in recent years. notice polls – but Mr O’Gorman does not believe his party faces another wipeout in 2011.

He said: “Everyone was saying we were going to be wiped out in the future. local elections and we lost some seats, yes, but we also came out on top in many areas, particularly around Dublin city centre.

“We are going into this election to retain our seats in the Dail and increase them with a number of very strong senators in Roisin Garvey and Pauline O’Reilly – Roisin is well tipped in Clare now to take a place. seat there.

“This is my ambition: to increase our number of seats. I think we’ve shown how successful we’ve been over the last four years.

“The Greens deliver” is the key slogan of the party’s campaign this time around.

Mr. O’Gorman would like to highlight his achievements in coalition with Fianna fails And Good Gael for four and a half years.

CHILD CARE PLANS

Chief among them is the 50 percent reduction child care fees introduced over successive budgets – what he believes Fianna Fail and Fine Gael could never have done without the Greens, even though both parties boast about it in their own speeches. campaigns.

He said: “I went out and didn’t check with Fianna Fail or Fine Gael and said my ambition was to halve the costs over two years. And I went to negotiate it on two budgets. They were tough.

“You may remember the 2024 budget: it was the afternoon before the budget announcement when I passed it. So I don’t think it would have been possible without the Green Party in government and without me as minister.

Taoiseach Simon Harris is selling a €200-a-month childcare plan as part of the Fine Gael election campaign, while Sinn Féin promises a solution of €10 per day.

However, the leader of the Greens believes that these parties are “fighting yesterday’s battle” on costs.

Instead, he is proposing a new public child care program to increase the number of spaces available because he believes it is difficult to find a space. space is now the biggest problem facing parents.

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