OIREACHTAS SECURITY STAFF were forced to intervene and stop a member of the public from gaining access to the Dáil chamber earlier today.

The man – who is understood to have been part of a visiting party to the Dáil – passed the usual security and made it to the top of the main staircase into the chamber at Leinster House before being intercepted.

The man was restrained by the parliamentary ushers – who were forced to hold him in an armlock – before he was removed from the building.

“Somebody attempted to breach the security within the House,” an Oireachtas spokesman confirmed. “He was dealt with by the staff, and all the usual procedures worked.”

The man’s motive for entering the chamber is not known. The incident occurred at the beginning of today’s Dáil business.

Entry to the Dáil chamber is restricted to members of the House and a small number of parliamentary and political staff.

Members of the press are permitted to sit in an adjoining gallery, while the public is only permitted to watch proceedings from an upper gallery which is screened off from the main chamber.

Members of the public are only permitted to enter the Leinster House complex if they have been given prior authorisation by a member of either the Dáil or Seanad.