Completed Garda file on Golfgate sent to DPP for decision
THE Garda criminal investigation into the infamous Golfgate dinner is finished and a file has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
The DPP will now decide if any charges are to be brought forward for alleged breaches of Covid-19 regulations.
The investigation centred on whether more than 50 people attended the event. The 80 guests at the dinner were split into separate partitioned areas in order to be categorised as separate gatherings, which were permitted.
However, gardaí investigated both the organisers of the golf event dinner in Galway and management at the Station House Hotel in Clifden, Co Galway.
Several of the politicians who attended the event were also interviewed by gardaí.
Although the event took place in August, some of those in attendance were only being questioned towards the end of last year. A number of guests
were given the option of making a statement in writing or in person to gardaí.
Those attending the event included a Cabinet minister, a European Commissioner, a Supreme Court judge and several TDs and senators.
The investigation conducted by local gardaí in Galway focused on potential breaches of Covid-19 regulations and the organisation of the event.
A Garda source confirmed to the Irish Independent that the investigation is complete and the file is with the DPP.
The political fallout from the event saw the resignation of then-Agriculture Minister Dara Calleary; six Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael senators lost the party whip. Those six senators were readmitted to their respective parliamentary parties by Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar last week.
Former Fianna Fáil TD Donie Cassidy, one of the organisers of the event, resigned as the party’s vice-president.
Then-European Commissioner Phil Hogan also resigned from office following further controversy over his travels across the country.
Supreme Court Justice Séamus Woulfe resisted intense pressure to resign.