NUJ Defends Golfgate Coverage Following Seamus Woulfe’s Remarks

THE NATIONAL UNION of Journalists (NUJ) has defended media coverage of the Golfgate scandal following criticism from Supreme Court Justice Seamus Woulfe.

Justice Woulfe described the reports of the scandal as “gruesome” and “false” in an interview with former Chief Justice Susan Denham during an investigation into her attendance at the controversial golf dinner in Clifden, Co Galway.

A transcript of the interview was released last week, which took place on September 8 as part of Denham’s investigation into Judge Woulfe’s conduct.

Judge Woulfe also told the retired judge that the Oireachtas Golf Society event was treated as the “Ku Klux Klan” and that the media was “really scraping the barrel” by covering the event as it did.

In a statement to TheJournal.ie, a NUJ spokeswoman said she took note of the Supreme Court judge’s comments, which the union described as “intemperate” in tone.

“The media coverage of the Oireachtas Golf Society dinner was clearly in the public interest,” the statement said.

“To suggest otherwise is to ignore the legitimate public policy issues involved, including public health issues.”

The union also described Judge Woulfe’s reference to the Ku Klux Klan as “disappointing and inappropriate”, saying that no journalist was responsible for the position the judge was in.

“Judges must respect the right of journalists to do their job and must always be measured in their comments on the media,” added a spokeswoman.

The publication of Judge Woulfe’s interview with Denham followed a finding that Woulfe should note his resignation, despite attending the dinner against Covid-19 guidelines that suggested he and dozens more should not have. done.

The controversy has led to the resignation of former Agriculture Minister Dara Calleary and EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan, who also attended the event.

Judge Woulfe told Denham that he thought coverage of the event in the Irish Examiner, which released the story, was “the most rubbish” when he saw the newspaper reports.

Towards the end of his conversation with Denham, Judge Woulfe was asked whether he accepted that the event had created a great public controversy, replying: “Yes, but it seems objectively to be completely false, exaggerated.

He added: “In a sense, I suppose it is so, that the media also having the opportunity to bring down a judge adds extra fuel to the fire and added to the controversy that I was there.”