Minister Anne Rabbitte claimed she avoided TV and radio appearances after a bag of cow dung was flung at her.
The Minister and Fine Gael politician Ciaran Cannon were targeted by an assailant last month during a public meeting in Galway. Local farmer Joseph Baldwin alleges he carried out the attack, claiming he was protesting plans to build a biogas plant near Galway City.
Ms Rabbitte recently opened up to RTE's This Week about the distressing encounter. She admitted that the embarrassing incident led to doubts about her career in politics for the first time.
She told RTE: "“In the past I wouldn’t have given something like this a second thought, but since January I plan my moves and I don’t do anything off the cuff anymore. I have reduced radio and TV as well. "
She then added: "On that night in January, there were moments when I queried why I do this."
The segment on RTE's This Week was one of the Minister's few media appearances since the incident in early January. She also discussed the impact of harmful online rhetoric on female politicians.
Ms Rabbitte said that women in the public eye face greater criticism on their looks, style and general conduct in comparison to their male counterparts. She described online abuse endured by women in politics as "relentless" and said her experience reflected growing hostility towards public representatives.
Labour's Ivana Bacik agreed with Ms Rabbitte's assessment and said the encounter had a "dreadful impact" on her colleague. The Labour leader will meet with the Dail speaker to discuss female security later this week.
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