Minister reveals torture threats in wake of fuel protests

Sean Ryan

The Minister of State at the Office of Public Works (OPW), Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran, has revealed that he received "torture threats" in the wake of his decision to vote confidence in the government amid the recent fuel protests.

Speaking with local media in Co Westmeath, Moran revealed that he had calls from people who said they would "torture me and do various different things to me" if he did not vote against the Government.

He added, “I had a guy threatening to kill me. I had fellas threatening to come and take me out of my house and torture me and do various different things to me if I didn’t vote against the Government.”

Moran, who is a TD for the Longford/Westmeath constituency, also mentioned an anonymous post on an Athlone Facebook group early last week, which made a distasteful claim about his relationship with his wife.

“The stuff put up about me and my wife is absolutely heartbreaking. I put myself in front of the people and got elected, and to think that some people then would try and lower themselves to that level...’’

He said, "That's not politics, and that's not the society that we want going forward.

"So I would reach out to people and say, you have your anger, you're annoyed, and I get all of that, but we need to collaborate and work together because we don't want to see what we have seen in the last few days.

"I love my wife, my wife and I are the best of friends, and I won't let a division come between me and my family because of politics," he said.

Moran also revealed that he has spoken to Gardaí, and they are currently investigating the matter.

Moran was one of 7 Independent TDs to support the government in the confidence vote, which the government won 92 votes to 78.