Possibility of judicial resignations over the Seamus Woulfe controversy is a ‘concern’

The co-leader of the Social Democrats has expressed concern that the Supreme Court justices may resign in protest if his judicial colleague Seamus Woulfe does not resign.

Catherine Murphy’s comments come as the political parties at Leinster House continue to deliberate on whether it would be appropriate for them to initiate impeachment proceedings against Judge Woulfe.

“I certainly have a concern,” Ms. Murphy said of the possibility of waiver of court protests.

“It would be foolish not to pay attention to that.”

Chief Justice Frank Clarke has urged the former attorney general to resign over his handling of the controversy surrounding his attendance at a golf society dinner in Co Galway, which was organized against strict restrictions on Covid-19 on public meetings.

Judge Woulfe has insisted that his actions do not justify his losing his job.

Former Chief Justice Susan Denham, who conducted an investigation into the ‘Golfgate’ episode, also found that the judge’s conduct did not justify requests for his resignation.

However, Mr. Clarke has expressed his personal opinion that his colleague should resign, raising concerns not only about his attendance at the dinner, but also about subsequent comments he made to the Denham investigation in which he questioned the handling of the governance of the pandemic response.

Last week, the president of the Supreme Court made public the correspondence between the two judicial figures, a measure that deepened the crisis that surrounds the Supreme Court.

With the Chief Justice powerless to remove Justice Woulfe from office, the focus has shifted to the Oireachtas and whether politicians will continue impeachment proceedings against the judge.

However, there are doubts among various political parties as to whether the actions of the former attorney general were serious enough to justify such a measure, especially since it could set a precedent for interventions in future judicial controversies.

A meeting of party leaders on Friday was inconclusive. The opposition parties are seeking independent legal advice on the matter and another meeting between all the leaders is scheduled for early this week.

Justice Woulfe, who was appointed in July, will not sit on the Supreme Court until February.

The crisis has sparked speculation that other Supreme Court justices may refuse to sit next to him, increasing the possibility of protest resignations.

Ms. Murphy questioned whether the Oireachtas was the appropriate forum to address the issue.

“My concern is that this is in the area of ​​judgment, character and moral authority, and that it is more of the responsibility of the judiciary to enforce that kind of process themselves,” he told RTE Radio One’s This Week program.

“The unfortunate thing is that the judicial conduct committee is not in place and will not be for another year to 18 months. So there is no mechanism to do that and that is why this is such a difficult decision because the only available option that seems to be available is the impeachment process.

“And whether or not Leinster House should be involved or where the solution will be found is, I think, a very open question.”

Ms. Murphy also questioned the Supreme Court Chief Justice’s handling of the matter.

“I think it has certainly made a bad situation, I think much more difficult,” he said.

Meanwhile, opposition parties continue to ask questions about the process that led to the appointment of Judge Woulfe, and Justice Minister Helen McEntee faces calls to explain why cabinet ministers were not informed that several other justices had voiced interest in the role.