Gary Daly says he feared for his life during an alleged homophobic attack on him and his gay friend after they exchanged a kiss in a Sligo pub.

“I heard someone tell us to get out of the pub,” Daly told the Sligo Champion. “I told him we had the same rights to be there as he did. The next thing I knew I was head-butted out of the blue. I tried to defend myself. Then his friends got involved.”

Daly says that during the assault in Killgallen’s pub on The Mall in Sligo he was punched, bitten and even thrown down the stairs.

I now have a permanent scar on my face from where I was bitten by one of the attackers,” he says. “There were up to eight men punching and hitting us. I was thrown down the stairs and furniture from the beer garden was used to hit me. I was frightened for my life. I didn’t know what was going to happen next.”

According to the Sligo Champion, who leads with the story on their front page today, “Sligo Gardaí are investigating the incident”.