Former Minister for Justice Alan Shatter

Mr Shatter said that when he and he wife tried to “get away from all of this” for a holiday in France after his resignation he was “subjected to a tirade from an Irish guy” who had travelled on the same flight.”

Alan Shatter ‘spat at’ and ‘abused’ after leaving minister role (irish Times)

‘sheet reader ‘Bonkers’ writes:

I’m sure you have seen the story on RTÉ and elsewhere about Alan Shatter saying he was spat at in public and abused “in an airport in another country”.

I can’t be 100% certain but he might have been referring to myself who challenged him in Gatwick Airport over his handling of the Garda whistleblowers. If it is myself he is referring to then, in my honest opinion, he is engaging in spin.

I addressed him respectfully as Deputy Shatter and asked him why he hadn’t taken [Garda whistleblower] Maurice McCabe’s complaints seriously.

Rather than engage with me and explain that he had (as he is now claiming) his immediate response was to go on the attack by saying “Who the fuck are you?”.

I was taken aback by this and as we got on the escalator in Gatwick I turned around and replied “I’m just a voter who was wondering how the Minister for Justice got taken down by a hippy builder in a pink shirt” (referring to Mick Wallace being instrumental in his resignation)

At this point Shatter was seething, I had made my point and left. But in no way was the conversation one of abuse, I approached him politely and asked a question to which he replied with expletives.

If anything he was the one abusing me and it certainly wasn’t the type of language you would expect out of a man whose is supposed to represent the people.

Anyway that’s just my own experience of asking Alan Shatter a question. It does amaze me how he has spun the incident a full 180 degrees though and its taken as fact by RTÉ and other media organisations….

FIGHT!

Rollingnews