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The leaders of the three government parties met tonight with Attorney General Paul Gallagher to discuss the Seamus Woulfe controversy.
Earlier this week, Chief Justice Frank Clarke told the Supreme Court Justice that it was his personal opinion that he should resign over the controversy surrounding his attendance at a golf dinner in Clifden last August.
He noted the “cumulative effect” of the dispute and said that Judge Woulfe does not “acknowledge[e] the serious public concern and the consequent damage to the Court have only aggravated the gravity of the situation. “
The position of the Chief Justice is exactly the opposite of that taken a few weeks ago by former Chief Justice Susan Denham in her report on the investigation of the matter.
It concluded that there were insufficient grounds to justify the resignation of Judge Woulfe and that it would be disproportionate.
Judge Woulfe said that he had concluded that he should not resign.
Coalition party leaders, Taoiseach Micheál Martin from Fianna Fáil, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar from Fine Gael and Transport Minister and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan met today to discuss the situation.
They will meet again tomorrow to continue that discussion. Justice Minister Helen McEntee also attended tonight’s meeting.
Tomorrow afternoon a new meeting of all party leaders will be held to discuss the situation.
The Taoiseach has told the Dáil that he would like to seek consensus on how to deal with the crisis in the Supreme Court.
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