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A meeting between the Chief Justice and Justice Séamus Woulfe on the Oireachtas golf dinner controversy has been postponed until next week following a request from the Supreme Court judge for a medical postponement.
In a statement Tuesday evening, a spokesman for the Chief Justice, Justice Frank Clarke, said: “The Chief Justice has received a request for a further postponement for medical reasons and has agreed to set the meeting for Tuesday. in the next week.
“The president of the Supreme Court has emphasized to Judge Woulfe the urgency of carrying out this process.”
A meeting between the two men had been scheduled for Monday, but was postponed until Friday by Judge Clarke, following a request for a postponement by Judge Woulfe.
The meeting was scheduled as part of an “informal resolution” process stemming from former Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Denham’s report on Justice Woulfe’s attendance at the controversial August gathering of more than 80 people, which took place despite public health advice about large gatherings during the Covid 19 pandemic.
Under this process, it is understood that Mr. Judge Woulfe had to discuss the proposed resolution, which was outlined last Friday, with the President of the Supreme Court.
Denham’s report said the former attorney general had not been “sufficiently attentive” to his position as a newly appointed judge when he accepted the invitation to the dinner, but that a request to resign would be “unfair and disproportionate.”
The findings of the former Chief Justice stood in contrast to the political trials faced by former European Commissioner Phil Hogan and former Agriculture Minister Dara Calleary, who had to resign over the dispute.
Judge Woulfe, who was appointed to the state’s highest court in July, is currently not listed in the Legal Journal to hear any Supreme Court cases.
Under existing rules, the Chief Justice has no power to impose a penalty of any kind, but high-level personalities have been greatly annoyed to see the Supreme Court embroiled in public controversy.
“The resolution process recommended in the review will begin now,” said the court, which was interpreted by high-level legal sources last week to mean that Justice Woulfe would face “a reprimand” from the Chief Justice.
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