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As controversy rumbles on over “golfgate”, a spokesperson for the European Commission has said that President Ursula von der Leyen is following the situation “closely” after it emerged that Commissioner for Trade Phil Hogan was at the event.
Commissioner Hogan said he attended the Oireachtas Society golf dinner in Clifden last Wednesday with the assurance that the hotel was following COVID-19 protocols.
More than 80 people attended the event and the ensuing controversy has seen Minister for Agriculture Dara Calleary tender his resignation.
She requested Commissioner Hogan to provide a full report with details of the event
The national controversy has spilled into the international spectrum and a spokesperson for the European Commission said: “The President is following the situation closely. She requested Commissioner Hogan to provide a full report with details of the event.
“It is important that facts are established in detail to carefully assess the situation.”
Commissioner Hogan has apologised fully for attending the dinner but Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar have asked him to consider his position.
All of us must display solidarity
The Commissioner said he had spoken with both the Taoiseach and Tánaiste and listened carefully to their views.
“I acknowledge that the issue is far bigger than compliance with rules and regulations and adherence to legalities and procedures. All of us must display solidarity as we try to stamp out this common plague,” Hogan said.
“I thus offer this fulsome and profound apology, at this difficult time for all people, as the world as a whole combats COVID-19.”
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