The Minister of State for Disability has said that she was "detained" in her constituency office in Portumna last December by a man who was railing against Government policy.
In a separate incident in Anne Rabbitte's Athenry office, a man said that he was going to "bomb’ the building. On that occasion, Ms Rabbitte was not present, but her staff reported the incident to local gardaí and the office was shut for two days.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Drivetime, Ms Rabbitte said that she felt "trapped" during the incident in Portumna, when a man stood in the office passageway for 40 minutes, outlining his concerns regarding with vaccines and Covid-19 restrictions.
"He stood in the position which meant that I had no exit out. He knew I was uncomfortable. There is no doubt about that," she said.
"I suppose I was a bit agitated because I felt trapped. I kept saying I need to go, I need to go. I'm sorry but I’m in a rush, I’m working to appointment. You can meet me again. Ring one of the girls in the office and I’d be delighted to meet with you.
"But there was no putting (him) off until the phone rang. It started off with (him) being totally annoyed about the vaccination programme and about the wearing of masks."
She added that he then started going back to various wars and comparing Ireland to those situations.
"I was detained. I had no free access. I wasn’t comfortable. I had left myself exposed," Ms Rabbitte said.
"I felt there was no out and luckily the phone rang. That was my opportunity to say I must go."
Ms Rabbitte eventually left, but only after the man insisted that she met him again.
"It was a term and condition to getting out of my own office," she said.
"I've changed how I do things. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it and I reflected that I won’t be doing it like that again. I can’t be putting myself in those positions so I’ve just changed how I do business.
"Unfortunately, I won’t be going to the office on my own. I’ll have somebody with me and it will definitely be on an appointment basis. That’s sad because I like that freedom."
The incident at Ms Rabbitte’s other constituency office in Athenry happened when a man, who had initially visited some time previously, arrived back when the TD was not present.
"When he came back the second day, he was very clear on what he would like to do to the office and that was to blow it up. He said he was going to bomb it. He did leave seemingly after about half an hour," Ms Rabbitte said.
"When the staff member rang me, I said to close the office and go down to An Garda Síochána. We closed the office for a second day and there was a follow up with An Garda Síochána. I don’t want to have that feeling again in the pit of my stomach and I certainly don’t want to put my staff at risk."
