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The Supreme Court has confirmed receipt of the report from former Chief Justice Susan Denham on Supreme Court Justice Séamus Woulfe’s attendance at an Oireachtas Golf Society dinner.
The move is expected to herald significant developments on the matter in the coming days.
In a statement Tuesday from Chief Justice Frank Clarke, the Supreme Court confirmed that it had received the report earlier and made a copy available to Justice Woulfe.
“The Supreme Court is considering the report and will issue an additional statement in the early course,” the brief statement concluded.
The statement represents the court’s first public comment on attendance at the golf dinner since August 24, when it issued a statement saying that it had asked Ms. Denham to conduct a review of Mr. Justice Woulfe’s attendance at event in Clifden.
Ms. Denham was asked to consider whether Mr. Judge Woulfe should, in all circumstances, have left the hotel in light of the prevailing situation and whether he should have played golf without attending dinner.
In the context of these questions, Ms Denham was also asked to consider whether there are relevant codes of practice or guidelines and to make any appropriate recommendations in this regard.
The Supreme Court said a “non-statutory” approach to the review was required because sections of the Judicial Council Law dealing with codes of conduct and a mechanism for handling complaints against judges had not yet been initiated.
Golf dinner
Judge Woulfe, the former attorney general, was among more than 80 guests who attended the dinner on Aug. 19 after two days of golf. The event at the Co Galway hotel was held despite Covid-19 public health guidelines that place limits on indoor gatherings. Several TDs and senators attended, along with former TDs and senators.
The controversy surrounding the event has led to the resignation of Fianna Fáil TD Dara Calleary as Minister of Agriculture and European Commissioner Phil Hogan.
In the course of her review, Ms. Denham met with Mr. Justice Woulfe, who was accompanied by Michael Collins SC, whom she had hired following the announcement of the review. According to sources, a draft of the report was provided to Judge Woulfe before Ms. Denham finalized it.
The matter is the subject of intense speculation in legal circles, even if the report will be published.
It is understood that everyone involved is eager to have the matter fully addressed before the full opening of the new legal period next week. In this context, a new statement from the Supreme Court on the matter is expected this week.
According to an earlier version of the Supreme Court diary published for the new period of the law, as of next Monday, Mr. Justice Woulfe, a former attorney general who was appointed to the Supreme Court in July, was to sit down for the first time as judge. from the Supreme Court next Tuesday to hear an appeal titled AIB v Ennis.
The latest published version of the newspaper does not contain any list that establishes the names of the judges who will hear that appeal.
Judge Woulfe last month issued a lengthy statement saying he attended the dinner with the understanding that he would adhere to public health guidelines and apologized for any inadvertent breaches of them.
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