DFA boss gave go-ahead for staff to gather 'in the thick of it' prior to champagne party

Green light for officials communicated in an email from Niall Burgess’s private secretary the day before the event on June 17, 2020

The controversial Niall Burgess party tweet.

The former secretary-general of the Department of Foreign Affairs said he was “happy” for Iveagh House staff to gather “in the thick of it” to watch the UN Security Council vote that preceded a champagne party in June 2020, internal records reveal.

The go-ahead for officials to gather “down the back of the political open-plan [office]” was communicated in an email from Niall Burgess’s private secretary the day before the event on June 17, 2020.