Letters to the Editor: Oireachtas must take leaf out of Chief Justice’s book

Seamus Woulfe 

I think the public’s respect and, indeed, admiration for our independent Supreme Court has been greatly reinforced by the principled stand taken by Chief Justice Clarke and his colleagues on the issue of Mr Justice Seamus Woulfe’s attendance at the controversial Oireachtas Golf Society dinner in August.

It is crucial for our democracy to ensure that the highest standards apply, and are seen to apply, in the highest places. This is the standard the Oireachtas must apply in the current case, involving as it does a member of our highest court who has lost the confidence of his colleagues. Is it too much to hope that the Taoiseach Micheál Martin will take a leaf out of the Chief Justice’s book and insist on similarly high standards for his partner in government, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar who, as Taoiseach — and quite unbelievably — leaked a confidential document of his own government to a third party?