Gardaí have confirmed a file has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions in relation to the controversial “golfgate” dinner in Co Galway last August.
Those who attended the the Oireachtas Golf Society dinner at the Station House Hotel in Clifden on August 19th included Supreme Court judge Séamus Woulfe, then EU commissioner Phil Hogan and then minister for agriculture Dara Calleary, as well as individuals from the worlds of politics, the media and business. The event was attended by about 80 people.
In the wake of the controversy over the dinner, Mr Calleary resigned his position and Mr Hogan followed later while six Senators drawn from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael lost the party whip. They have since been re-admitted.
Mr Woulfe’s attendance at the dinner was the subject of a review commissioned by the Chief Justice Frank Clarke and undertaken by the former chief justice Mrs Justice Susan Denham.
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Mrs Denham found Mr Justice Woulfe “did not break any law or knowingly breach any guidelines”.
However, Mr Justice Woulfe had not been listed until recently to carry out Supreme Court work since the controversy.
Former TD and Senator Donie Cassidy, the president of the Oireachtas Golf Society, apologised at the time “unreservedly” on its behalf, and said “it was not our intention to disregard Government or health authorities’ advice”.
Independent TD Noel Grealish, captain of the society, said he was assured the event was in line with the latest public health guidelines, but had come to realise that attending was an error of judgment.
The dinner took place at a time when the country was under Level 3 of the Government’s staged Covid-19 plan during which indoor gatherings of more than 50 people were banned.
