‘Is Dublin dangerous? Not really. I come from Rio de Janeiro’: Caio Benicio on his €370k gift and ­standing for election

After intervening in November’s Parnell Square attack, the former Deliveroo rider received a fortune in gifts — and now he’s going into politics. The Brazilian tells John Meagher his extraordinary story

Interview with Caio Benicio

John Meagher

If, six months ago, you had told Brazilian native Caio Benicio that he would be entering the Irish political fray, he would have been bemused. Life then was all about working 10- to 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, as a self-employed food delivery rider. There was no time to contemplate the political landscape of his adopted home country, never mind stand as a Fianna Fáil candidate in June’s local elections.

Everything changed on November 23 when he intervened in an on-street knife attack in the centre of Dublin, which left a five-year-old girl and a worker in her crèche critically injured and led to two other children being hospitalised.