Violence and abuse against candidates On 8 May, Fingal councillor Tania Doyle and her husband, while erecting election posters, were assaulted by a man shouting anti-immigration and anti-Muslim rhetoric while an accomplice filmed it. Her husband was left bleeding and knocked to the ground by the assault which also saw Doyle herself punched in the head after she attempted to shield her husband. The assault lasted 15 minutes and only ended when the accomplice pulled the assaulter away from kicking Doyle's husband while on the ground. Doyle stated she feared for their lives and going forward would not be canvassing for the remainder of the election. The
gardaí have stated that they are investigating the matter. In another incident on 8 May, two women placing posters up in the
Smithfield area of Dublin for
Social Democrats candidate Ellen O'Doherty were threatened with a knife by a man demanding they remove the posters, who was then joined by another man. The women managed to escape when a local woman came from a nearby house and begged the men to stop. The campaigners reported the incident to the gardaí and said they would not canvass in future nor return to the area. On 15 May Fianna Fáil candidate Suzzie O'Deniyi was canvassing with members of her team in the
Caherdavin area of
Limerick when a man is alleged to have begun screaming racist and sexist slurs about O'Deniyi at her supporters. The man recorded himself doing so on his phone. Aaron Daly of Caherdavin, was subsequently arrested by Gardaí, and was charged with two counts of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, contrary to section 6 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994, before being released on bail. Daly was ordered to have no contact of any kind with O'Deniyi and to report to gardaí regularly until his trial, which was scheduled for 6 September 2024. Aaron Daly failed to appear in court when his case was called on 6 September 2024 and it was later reported that he had fled to the Greek island of
Crete. A bench warrant for his arrest was issued. On 17 May, Fine Gael candidate in
Artane–
Whitehall Linkwinstar Mattathil Mathew and his campaign team were forced to take down
election posters after they were racially abused and intimidated by a group of men. The perpetrators filmed the incident and posted it to social media. On 16 May Tánaiste Micheál Martin denounced the targeting of candidates, noting that the large majority of those targeted were from minority backgrounds. Martin stated the right to run in elections was a pillar of
liberal democracy, regardless of background. ==Standing of parties==