[ad_1]
Supreme Court Justice Séamus Woulfe received a further postponement of his meeting with Chief Justice Frank Clarke, with whom he was scheduled to meet on Tuesday.
Justice Woulfe is now scheduled to meet with the Chief Justice on Thursday to discuss the “informal resolution” of the controversy sparked by the former attorney general’s attendance at an Oireachtas Golf Society dinner in Clifden, Co Galway, in August. .
In a statement issued on his behalf on Tuesday, the president of the Supreme Court said he had expressed “his very serious concern about the damage that the continuation of this process is causing.”
“The Chief Justice has made it clear that if the meeting does not take place as scheduled on Thursday, he will make alternate arrangements to convey his final views on the process to Mr. Justice Woulfe.”
The Chief Justice, and Justice Donal O’Donnell, also of the Supreme Court, met with Justice Woulfe and a judicial colleague of his choice Tuesday in the Four Courts.
In the end, the Chief Justice and Justice O’Donnell met with Woulfe’s representative, a spokesman for the Chief Justice said. There, Mr. Woulfe’s representative requested the postponement of the entire meeting.
“As a result of what was said at that meeting, the Chief Justice has indicated that, very reluctantly, he is willing to make a final postponement of the proposed meeting, until Thursday.”
Medical reasons
A meeting scheduled for Monday of last week between the Chief Justice and Justice Woulfe to discuss Denham’s report on the latter’s attendance at the golf dinner was postponed after the former attorney general said no could attend for medical reasons.
A spokesperson said at the time that Mr. Justice Woulfe, on the Sunday night before the planned meeting, had requested a postponement and this was agreed to by the Chief Justice.
Judge Clarke, he said, had “stressed to Judge Woulfe the urgency of pursuing this process.”
In her report, Judge Susan Denham said it would be disproportionate and unfair to ask Judge Woulfe to resign as a result of the controversy, but she also said that he should not have attended the dinner.
The day after the report was released, the Judicial Council board released a transcript of Judge Woulfe’s interview with Judge Denham, which generated further controversy due to Judge Woulfe’s responses to some of the questions he was asked.
Also that Friday, three members of the Supreme Court met with Justice Woulfe to discuss with him what should happen next in relation to the informal resolution of the dispute.
Although neither Judge Woulfe nor any other member of the court has issued any statement on the matter, it was widely reported that Judge Woulfe was very surprised by what was relayed to him when he met with the other judges that Friday.
The Supreme Court’s anxiety over a speedy resolution of the dispute stemming from Judge Woulfe’s attendance at the Oireachtas golf dinner is hampered by the lack of clear rules.
The existing process, as it is, depends on the voluntary participation of the affected judge and on reaching an agreement that is acceptable to the judge. Even when an agreement is reached, it is not binding.
[ad_2]