The report into the attendance of Supreme Court judge Séamus Woulfe at the Oireachtas golf dinner has concluded he did not break any law and seeking his resignation would be unjust and disproportionate, according to the Irish Times.
Former Chief Justice Susan Denham is also understood to have concluded the matter can be dealt with informally by the Chief Justice.
As the Irish Times reports, she is believed to have expressed the view that Mr Justice Woulfe should have attended the golf event without attending the dinner and should not have accepted the dinner invitation.
It is understood she has found he failed to consider in advance of attending the dinner whether his attendance, as a Supreme Court Judge, at a celebratory dinner in a hotel, in a public place, in the middle of a pandemic, might be an impropriety, or might create the appearance of an impropriety, to reasonable members of the public.
The report into into the controversy was due to be published on Thursday following a meeting of the Supreme Court and the Judicial Council.
In August, the court asked Ms Denham to carry out a review concerning the Supreme Court judge’s attendance at the event in Clifden, Co Galway.
Ms Denham was asked to consider whether Mr Justice Woulfe should, in all the circumstances, have left the hotel in light of the situation prevailing and whether he should have played golf without attending the dinner.
Mr Justice Woulfe, the former attorney general, was among more than 80 guests who attended a dinner on August 19th after two days of golf. The event at the Co Galway hotel went ahead despite Covid-19 public health guidelines placing limits on indoor gatherings. It was attended by several TDs and Senators, along with former TDs and senators.
The controversy surrounding the event has led to the resignation of Fianna Fáil TD Dara Calleary as minister for agriculture and European Commissioner Phil Hogan.
