Families who lost loved ones sent letters expressing anger to Martin
PEOPLE who lost loved ones to Covid-19 wrote to the Taoiseach to express their intense anger about the Golfgate affair, emails obtained under Freedom of Information show.
One person detailed how family members had died from the coronavirus and had never got to s ay goodbye, while another wrote about how their husband and brotherin-law were only given a short time to visit their mother as she was dying.
Another person who was forced to miss their grandson’s Christening wrote: ‘To say I am furious is understating how I feel. To hear a Government Minister attended a golf function is a step too far.’ Politi- cians who attended the function in August ‘have no respect for frontline work- ers’ another wrote to Taoiseach Micheál Martin. Shortly after the news broke on the night of August 20, people were already writing to Mr Martin to express their displeasure at what took place, with a number of them calling for former agriculture minister Dara Calleary to be sacked.
On Thursday, a report into Supreme Court Judge Séamus Woulfe’s attendance at the Galway golf function in August found that there was ‘not sufficient grounds’ to warrant his resignation. Correspondence sent to the Taoiseach’s government email in the days following the dinner, obtained by the Irish Daily Mail through a Freedom of Information request, shows the level of public anger towards those who attended.
One person wrote: ‘You must now dismiss Minister Calleary. His crushing lack of judgement is a
‘You need to sack this guy now’
reflection of the sense of entitlement that politicians often have.’
Another said: ‘You need to sack this guy now. He has shown bad judgment and blatant disregard for the ordinary people of Ireland.’
One person said that they ‘strictly adhered’ to all the Covid-19 guidelines since March and after hear
ing of the golf function they said: ‘To say this is a kick in the teeth is a very mild understatement.’
One email admonished the ‘level of arrogance’ of those who attended, calling it ‘breathtaking and demoralising’.
‘All of these public representat i ve s who attended the Clifden event need to consider their position.’
Throughout the various emails sent to Mr Martin, Séamus Woulfe’s attendance at the function was mentioned only a handful of times. However, former EU Commissioner Phil Hogan’s attendance was the subject of many emails.
Mr Hogan ‘blatantly disregarded Covid guidelines and risked spreading the disease’ one person wrote while asking the Taoiseach to continue to apply pressure to make Mr Hogan resign.
One person wrote ‘ignorance is not a defence’ when speaking about Mr Hogan’s actions. ‘You must, for those who have suffered great loss in my country as a result of Covid-19 remove the Commissioner. Please do not shield him,’ they continued.
Another person wrote to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and copied to the Taoiseach, asking her to remove Mr Hogan from his trade portfolio.
‘There is real anger in the country over Commissioner Hogan continuing to brave things out when it is not sustainable given his total disregard for government regulations,’ the person continued.
However, despite widespread condemnation for his actions, which ultimately led to his resignation as EU Commissioner, Mr Hogan did receive a surprising amount of support from those contacting the Taoiseach’s office.
One email said that the Taoiseach should not give in to pressure on Mr Hogan from MEP Luke Ming Flanagan or TD Paul Murphy.
‘I’m not a fan of Phil Hogan but above anything we need him in our camp for the Brexit talks.
‘We all need to pull together and wear the green jersey now,’ they said, adding that Boris Johnson’s Chief Advisor Dominic Cummings must be ‘jumping for joy in Downing Street’ as a result of Mr Hogan’s predicament.
Another email was sent straight to Mr Hogan’s EU Commission email address and copied to the Taoiseach’s, which said that while they disagreed with Mr Hogan ‘we need you in your role in Brussels’.
One correspondent asked the Taoiseach ‘are you mad?’ to be putting pressure on Mr Hogan to resign while another claiming to be a ‘loyal supporter of Fianna Fáil’ said it is not in the national interest to lose a trade commissioner at this time.
‘Forcing Hogan out will damage the country, he was not the author, as the former Attorney General was, of any Covid-19 lockdown legislation so at least he’s not a hypocrite,’ they said.
Following the eventual resignation of Mr Hogan, one person wrote in support of the Taoiseach’s ‘no nonsense policy’. ‘Please continue to pursue a no nonsense policy, whether it’s a judge, a commissioner, they all have to obey the law like everyone else or face the consequences. It’s very simple and straightforward.’
One person said that Mr Martin should have ‘ stood behind’ Mr Hogan.
‘Please do not shield him’