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Supreme Court Justice Seamus Woulfe has been told that some colleagues are not happy to sit with him on the post-Golfgate controversy cases.
A three-judge delegation met with Judge Woulfe following the release of Denham’s report on his attendance at the Oireachtas Golf Society dinner, which violated coronavirus restrictions as reported by the Irish Examiner.
The report found that he should not be forced to resign over the scandal, yet Judge Woulfe later missed four scheduled meetings with Chief Justice Frank Clarke to discuss the matter.
Mr. Woulfe adjourned two meetings in the same week after having postponed two more meetings in early October, one for medical reasons.
The Sunday Times reports that his colleagues were stunned by his ‘scattered’ defense and informed him that some would not feel comfortable sitting with him on the bench.
Reports of discontent among Woulfe’s colleagues follow harsh criticism from Chief Justice Frank Clarke.
The Chief Justice said that continued delays in the process to review Woulfe’s attendance at the Oireachtas golf society dinner was causing damage.
Judge Woulfe originally issued a public apology for attending the event and for any unintentional breaches of Covid-19 guidelines.
“I attended based on that understanding, which would be within the guidelines, but I apologize for any unintentional violation of any of the new guidelines on my part.
“I would never ignore advice from government or health authorities regarding public health, and I have been striving to follow the rules and guidelines since their introduction in March.
“That I ended up in a situation where violations may have occurred is a great shame to me, and for which I am sorry. I apologize without reservation,” said his statement of apology.
However, transcripts of his conversation with Judge Denham undermined that apology as he admitted that he apologized because others had done so and he was not exactly sure why he was apologizing.
“I spoke to one or two people and decided that I would make an apology because one or two other people had apologized, for any inadvertent breaches of the guidelines on my part.
“Now, I was a little hesitant about doing it because I wasn’t sure why I was apologizing … And I think what’s very interesting is – and I only realized this yesterday when I went back to the apology – the fact that I said ‘I apologize for any inadvertent failure to comply with any of the new guidelines on my part,’ “he told Judge Denham.
Last August, 81 people attended the highly controversial golf dinner at a Clifden hotel, the Irish Examiner revealed.
The scandal, dubbed ‘Golfgate’, led to the resignation of aides such as Fianna Fáil’s Agriculture Minister Dara Calleary and Ireland’s EU Commissioner Phil Hogan.
Fine Gael Senator Jerry Buttimer also resigned as Seanad’s Leas-Cathaoirleach.
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