‘I was a bit hesitant in making an apology as I wasn’t sure what I was apologising for’

SUPREME Court Judge Séamus Woulfe said he had been ‘hesitant’ to apologise for attending the Golfgate dinner which broke Covid guidelines and saw the resignation of senior minister Dara Calleary and EU Commissioner Phil Hogan.

The judge did apologise at the time, along with numerous others, but has complained of ‘ the vilification that I have suffered in the media’.

In the full transcript of an interview with former Chief Justice Susan Denham, who reviewed his attendance at the Golfgate hotel dinner, he said: ‘I spoke to one or two people and I decided I would make an apology because one or two other people had apologised, for any unintentional breach of any guidelines on my part.

‘Now, I was a bit hesitant about doing it because I wasn’t sure what I was apologising for,’ he said.

Judge Woulfe was also very critical of the media and its treatment of the Golfgate scandal throughout the 140-page transcript.

Referring to the Oireachtas Golf

‘It’s like a Ku Klux Klan now’

Society, he said: ‘ I’m appalled at the kind of media treatment of the society event and the [way] it’s presented, in some way it’s like a Ku Klux Klan now, because on that day and both times there was a friendly social atmosphere. And I met a number of people, mainly retired politicians.

‘So the atmosphere of this is more like a retired teachers’ association or retired judges, not active politicians,’ he said.

The newly appointed judge, and former attorney general, added: ‘With the benefit of hindsight of course I would not have gone to the dinner because of the vilification that I have suffered in the media since, and the complete lack of fair procedures by the media and numerous politicians.’

He also said that when he was at the dinner he had never seen a partition slide back, linking two groups of around 40 diners seated in two sections of the hotel room.

He questioned what he should have done if he did see the partition opening, adding: ‘I think it’s totally artificial and ridiculous almost to suggest that a guest, who’s never seen the guidelines, doesn’t know exactly what they say, any guest – whether he’s a judge or not – should suddenly take on the role of policeman towards the end of a function that they’re a guest at, [ and] risk extreme discourtesy to your host.’

Judge Woulfe i s expected to appear before the Supreme Court next week. This is following the publication of the Judge Denham’s report. And Chief Justice Frank Clarke, who asked for the report, is expected to make an official comment on the matter, following the private meeting.

Sources suggest the meeting could involve a stern rebuke from Judge Clarke.

Judge Clarke had asked Ms Denham to investigate the newly appointed judge’s attendance at the event in August.

She found that Judge Woulfe ‘did not break any law or breach any guidelines’, although in her opinion it would have been better if he had not attended the dinner, along with 80 others, at the Station House Hotel.

Ms Denham said he did nothing to justify calls for his resignation, and that such a step would be ‘unjust and disproportionate’.

She said he had r eli ed on assurances from the organisers of the dinner that the Covid- 19 regulations were complied with, and there was evidence that the Station House Hotel had relied on the guidelines for reopening hotels and guesthouses, which applied on August 19.

Ms Denham also said that his failure to reflect on whether his attendance mi g h t cause controversy or bring the court into disrepute should be seen in light of the fact that he was a newly appointed judge.

So he had not yet sat as a member of the Supreme Court, had not had the benefit of any introductory programme as a judge, and there were no j udicial guidelines or code of conduct that could have helped him.

The board of the Judicial Council, which represents all of Ireland’s judges, met yesterday, and agreed on what parts of Judge Denham’s report would be made public.

These included a full transcript of a hearing of her review, held i n Green Street, Dublin, on September 8, subject to a few redactions for legal reasons.

During that review, Judge Woulfe said: ‘What did I do? I couldn’t think of any breaches by me except

I thought, l ook, l i ke anybody, maybe I didn’t social distance 100% perfectly all through the night, which I think probably applies to us all if we go to any gathering or family event.

‘And that’s all I could think of initially. However, I spoke to one or two people and I decided I would make an apology because one or two other people had apologies, for any unintentional breach of any guidelines on my part.’

The Judicial Council has also published the full copy of Judge

Woulfe’s statement. Next, Judge Clarke and the Supreme Court are expected to proceed with the ‘ i nformal resolution process’ suggested by Judge Denham as the appropriate course of action.

A source with over 30 years’ experience of court matters said that those in the Four Courts were still absorbing the content of the report.

However, he added: finished yet.

‘They will have to follow the procedures of the Judicial Council ‘ It’s not and of the Supreme Court. And there will, most certainly, have to be some kind of statement from the Chief Justice, who asked for the report to be carried out.

‘He is the Chief Justice after all, he will have to act accordingly.’

He said the general opinion was that Judge Denham’s report was fair and accurate, and that everyone – including Judge Woulfe, who issued an apology – agreed that his presence at the Golfgate dinner was wrong.

‘But I have been working with these guys for a long time, and the elevation from the Law Library to the judiciary almost always involves some kind of transition period,’ he added.

‘They go from the floor to the bench, and suddenly their every movement is watched, and they are relatively isolated. They are not as free as they used to be.

‘We all know that members of the judiciary should not be rubbing s houlders with members of the Oireachtas, unless it is at an official commemoration or something. But for someone like this, who has just come from being Attorney General, it can take some time to get accustomed to that,’ the source said.

Fianna Fáil TD Dara Calleary, who had only recently been appointed as agriculture minister after Barry Cowen had been forced to leave office, quit almost immediately after the scandal broke.

Ex-Fine Gael minister Phil Hogan quit as EU Commissioner after he first tried to stay in his post.