Varadkar to meet senators who lost party whip in Golfgate aftermath

Leo Varadkar will meet Fine Gael senators who lost the party whip over the Golfgate controversy to discuss his actions at the time. File picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photos

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar will meet Fine Gael senators who lost the party whip over the Golfgate controversy to discuss his actions at the time.

The matter was first raised at last week’s Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting where Mr Varadkar was criticised for not commenting on the outcome of a court case that saw criminal charges dropped against those who had organised the Oireachtas Golf Society event in August 2020.

The event led to a public outcry because it was held days after the government announced tight lockdown measures.

Three senators, including the deputy speaker of the Seanad Jerry Buttimer, lost the whip in the wake of the controversy.

The Tánaiste was not present at last week’s meeting but is now set for a showdown on Wednesday.

Mr Varadkar said he had sympathy for those who lost positions.

“The circumstances at the time were very difficult for everyone,” he said.

“I was at the Cabinet meeting where we decided there would be no gatherings for more than six people, it didn’t become the law for another few weeks but the public reacted in a certain way.

“I don’t think it’s particularly useful for me to go over old ground.

I think for anyone who had to resign or lost their position, that had a significant impact on them as human beings and, of course, I sympathise with that.” 

Phil Hogan, Ireland's former EU commissioner, looks set to seek compensation from the European Commission following his resignation in August 2020 in the wake of the controversy.

Mr Hogan, in an interview with French newspaper, Libération, said he “did not rule out the idea of demanding compensation for the damage suffered".

He claimed that EU Commission president Ursula Von Der Leyen instructed him to do an RTÉ interview and even mentioned the journalist with whom to do it.

Mr Varadkar said he was not aware of that information.

“The way it works is that members of the Commission are answerable to the Commission and I have a lot of confidence in the President of the Commission and the job she has been doing,” he added

“I refer to the spokesperson from the European Commission that there were a number of issues at play, it wasn’t just the dinner in Clifden.

“Phil Hogan was a very good commissioner and everyone would have preferred that things turned out differently but they didn’t.

“The whole thing is regrettable for anyone involved but we have to remember the circumstances as they occurred.

The Taoiseach had announced that no more than six people were to meet and that was effective immediately, even if it wasn’t law, and at that point, the dinner should have been cancelled and it wasn’t.

“I regret that event wasn’t cancelled.”

Mr Hogan, a former senior Fine Gael minister, was seen as a heavy hitter at the top tier of the commission in the trade portfolio before his resignation amid controversy about his movements across Ireland at a time of severe lockdown.

Mr Varadkar said it would not be appropriate for him to comment on Mr Hogan given there is pending legal action.