TV presenter Brendan Courtney has warned of a rise in “anti-gay rhetoric” after a “horrible” attack where he was kicked in the head.
The Dubliner said he raised the case to highlight that attacks like this are still happening and described the event as “surreal, dangerous and frightening”.
The broadcaster and fashion designer was walking home at around 9pm on Thursday across the bridge at Queens Street when he was attacked.
He said a white car pulled up with three men in it, they said something to him and he replied “hello”.
“Next of all, from behind, the driver and the guy in the back jumped out and kicked me to the ground and punched me and kicked me to the head five or six times.”
Mr Courtney said this included a kick to his face.
He added: “An American girl screamed ‘what’s going on’, and they got back into the car and drove off.”
He said a barman nearby invited him in to sit down and the gardai arrived in two minutes.
He said he went to an Emergency Department on Friday and got a CT scan as he had a “pounding” headache.
“I believe they were probably out for the hunt,” he told RTE’s Liveline. “I think they were just going out to lash someone out of it, that’s for sure.
“I think they recognised me and I think that was perfect fodder, that’s my feeling, could be wrong.
“I could have just been a very obviously gay man with his chips walking across the bridge.
“There’s definitely a rhetoric rebuilding, I can feel an anti-gay rhetoric for sure, that language is coming back that’s being allowed to be used again.
“And I don’t know where it’s coming from – well, we do know where it’s coming from – but we try and guard against it and bring education and awareness up.”
He added: “Its so important to just remind people that this happens still and to be vigilant first of all and if crime happens to report it.”
In a video posted to his Instagram account, he said: “It’s not good enough, we can do better.”