Minister for Culture Patrick O’Donovan was hospitalised after becoming unwell during an official trip to Brussels this week as part of the State’s EU presidency.
O’Donovan has previously spoken about his experience living with epilepsy, which he was diagnosed with more than 10 years ago.
A spokeswoman said: “I can confirm that the Minister became unwell in Brussels on Tuesday night and was taken to hospital. He remains under close medical observation ... There will be no further comment at this time.”
O’Donovan first revealed last year that he had been diagnosed with epilepsy. The Limerick politician has a photosensitivity that manifests as the condition. He was diagnosed in 2016 and has been managing the condition since. The Fine Gael politician has previously talked about how he experienced “violent episodes” in the run-up to the 2016 general election.
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He has also described how he sometimes struggled while speaking in media interviews or in the Dáil as an episode could affect his speech.
Earlier this year, he told Newstalk that his “worst nightmare” was that someone would question if he was drunk if he suffered an episode during an interview or public appearance.
“The reason that I didn’t speak openly before 2025 about my epilepsy was I was terrified that people wouldn’t vote for me, and that my prospects of being promoted would hit the bin,” he said in the interview. He said that his condition does not “impede” him once it is managed.
O’Donovan said that he had been “ashamed” of his epilepsy because he was “ignorant of what it is to have a neurological condition”.
He was attending a cultural event in Brussels on Tuesday night to mark the State’s presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2026.
