Chief Justice and Justice Minister faced criticism over Woulfe controversy

Some emails sent to Justice Minister Helen McEntee were sharply critical of Chief Justice Frank Clarke, left, for calling for Seamus Woulfe's, right, resignation after Golfgate. File Picture: Gareth Chaney, Collins

Justice Minister Helen McEntee received a mixed response from the public on the controversy over Golfgate Judge Seamus Woulfe.

Correspondence released by the department shows some were sharply critical of Chief Justice Frank Clarke, saying he had over-reached in calling for Mr Woulfe’s resignation over the Golfgate affair.

The records – which were released under FOI – show Minister McEntee received more than two dozen representations.

In one email, Justice Frank Clarke was accused of having acted in a “high-handed manner”, with criticism of the publication of interview transcripts and letters with Seamus Woulfe.

They even drew links with the privacy battles of Meghan Markle, whose private correspondence was also published, saying the Woulfe records should never have made their way into the public domain.

The email said: “I felt that Seamus Woulfe was reasonably satisfied to forgo three months salary and he apologised any number of times for his mistake.

“I believe that in the event [Mr] Woulfe is somehow pressured to resign that the fair and just outcome would be that the Chief Justice would also be asked to resign,” they added.

Another member of the public said the report of Justice Susan Denham into the Golfgate event in Clifden, Co Galway, should have been the final word.

'Judge, jury, and executioner'

They said: “The present Chief Justice has made a major misjudgement and solely decided to act as ‘judge, jury, and executioner'.” 

The email said that if Judge Woulfe was forced to resign, he should be allowed to retire on full pension as if he had served in the Supreme Court.

Another letter said Chief Justice Frank Clarke had made a “mess” of the controversy.

“If this goes to a court, I think [Seamus] Woulfe will receive a serious amount of damages.” 

Others were sharply critical of the process by which Judge Woulfe had been appointed to the Supreme Court in the first place.

One wrote to Ms McEntee saying: “If you were employed by a private company and you selected an applicant for a high-powered position who had no experience; how long do you think you would last in that company?” 

Another warned of the appointment process turning into ‘#Helengate’, saying it seemed this Government was “one scandal after the other”.

Another email said the mechanisms for picking the judiciary were in need of reform, calling for “far more separation between the politicians and judges in this country”.

One email was not particularly concerned with the appointment of Seamus Woulfe but rather with the entire system of justice in Ireland.

It said “the spiritual judge is the most powerful of judge[s]” and that the position of all gardaí, judges, and the minister herself were unlawful.