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An opposition TD has said that Taoiseach Michael Martin has questions to answer about attending an indoor event honoring his late father in what he alleges is a “serious” violation of health guidelines.
Mr. Martin visited Glen Boxing Club in Cork last December to present his father’s Paddy ‘The Champ’ Martin Cup.
At least 12 people attended, including club officials, the Cork County Boxing Board, the Cork Former Boxers Association, the Cork Boxing Fraternity Association and special guest boxer Christina Desmond, who won the cup, and members of your family.
(Image: Gareth Chaney / Collins)
The 45-minute event was held with level three restrictions when all indoor gatherings were banned.
Masks were not worn during photos and speeches at the event.
People Before Profit TD for Dublin South West Paul Murphy said: “It appears that the Taoiseach attended an indoor meeting during level three when indoor meetings were not explicitly allowed.
“Either the rules apply to everyone or they don’t and you start to undermine them.
“It certainly seems very serious to me. If there was any excuse that it wasn’t an indoor meeting, for this or that reason, I’d like to hear it.
“It’s exactly the same as the RTE presenters who had to apologize and the last I heard was that Gardai was investigating.”
A spokesperson for the Taoiseach Department said that Mr. Martin attended the event for work reasons and it was not a personal event.
He added: “The Taoiseach visited a community boxing club at the invitation of the Cork County Boxing Board, almost four months ago, on December 12, 2020.
(Image: Collins Photos Dublin.)
“Before the engagement, as a standard, guidance was provided to the club, including limiting the number of attendees, social distancing, and wearing masks when not speaking or in photos.”
But Murphy said the fact that it was work didn’t change the “character of the event.”
He added: “It’s not like it’s a socially estranged gathering at the Taoiseach office or something.
“He goes to a publicly organized indoor meeting, so I don’t think that changes the character of the event.
“In that case, people who went to Golfgate might say ‘well, this is part of our job, we have to talk to these people, etc.
“We need to see some explanation or reason why what has been said so far does not change the character of the event, that it would have been an out-of-regulation event and the Taoiseach attending something like that obviously sends a completely wrong message. . “
A Garda spokesperson said: “The Taoiseach visited a community boxing club in working capacity on December 12, 2020.
“A Garda Síochána is not conducting an investigation on this matter.”
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