Opposition TDs critical of report into Dept of Foreign Affairs champagne gathering

Labour, People Before Profit, and Social Democrats slam Joe Hackett's report into the controversial office party 

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney and his department's secretary general Niall Burgess at an event in the British embassy in March 2020. File picture: Julien Behal Photography

The Taoiseach and Simon Coveney, the foreign affairs minister, have sought to draw a line under the champagne party at the Department of Foreign Affairs, but opposition politicians have slammed the report into the event.

Published on Monday night, the report found that former department secretary general Niall Burgess “was largely responsible for facilitating the breach of social distance guidance” at the champagne party at the department’s headquarters in June 2020. However, it found no evidence that Mr Coveney attended when drinks were being had, but that he had stopped by the UN affairs section of the department afterwards.