The Oireachtas Golf Society is coming under fresh pressure to disclose the length of time more than 80 people were gathered at its controversial hotel dinner which has plunged the Government into crisis.
Under Covid-19 restrictions announced by Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar two weeks ago, restaurants were required to close at 11pm, with diners allowed only an hour and 45 minutes for their meals.
Revised restrictions announced last Tuesday — the night before the now infamous golf dinner — extended the closing time until 11.30pm, with table numbers capped at six people.
One of those in attendance at Wednesday night’s dinner at the Station House Hotel in Clifden, Co Galway, said it started shortly after 9pm.
There were a choice of three starters, including soup, pate and “some vegetarian or salady thing”, followed by a choice of three main courses, including salmon and lamb, and a choice of three desserts.
After the meal there were four separate speeches. Society captain and Independent TD Noel Grealish addressed attendees, who included Supreme Court judge Séamus Woulfe, EU Commissioner Phil Hogan, several senators and councillors.
The society’s president and former Fianna Fáil TD and senator Donie Cassidy also made a speech, followed by Fianna Fáil councillor Donagh Killilea, who spoke on behalf of his family, who shared a table at the event.
The dinner was organised to pay tribute to his late father, the former Fianna Fáil MEP and TD Mark Killilea, as well as mark the society’s 50th anniversary.
The now resigned ninister for agriculture Dara Calleary also made a speech commemorating the late Mr Killilea.
There was also a prize-giving, and according to one person present, families of winners took time to take photos.
It is understood former Fine Gael minister Mr Hogan won one of the prizes, a George Foreman grill.
One attendee couldn’t recall what time people left the function room, saying some stayed on to talk afterwards before everyone “scattered”.
“It’s impossible to say, I wasn’t conscious of time,” said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
‘Multiple breaches’
Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald told The Irish Times she was concerned “to hear reports of multiple breaches of public health guidelines” at the event.
“We know the number of attendees exceeded the limit, but it has now been alleged that the event also lasted far longer than the time limit permitted,” she said.
“The public needs to know if multiple breaches of the guidelines occurred.
“I would ask those present at the dinner to clarify whether the length of time was compliant with the regulations and to be clear about how many regulation breaches took place. The attendees must be up-front about what happened and how the rules were breached. ”
Ms McDonald said the Irish public was “understandably concerned about what happened and this drip feed of information and allegations risks undermining confidence in the public health guidelines at this critical time in the fight against Covid-19”.
Some attendees stayed at rooms in the hotel where the dinner took place and others stayed in at least two other hotels in the town. Some remained on at the hotel lounge in the lobby afterwards.
“We were assured everything was in order,” one said.
“It was a cock up anyway, with the benefit of hindsight. The dinner shouldn’t have taken place.”
As well as the more than 80 attendees, there was “a pile” of staff, with one or two waiters assigned to each table, according to one of the diners.
Restrictions state staff should be included when calculating maximum numbers, meaning the gathering was several multiples of the latest allowed number of six for indoor gatherings, and comfortably more than the previous cap of 50.
Mr Cassidy has said he will fully co-operate with a Garda investigation into the affair.
Under Covid-19 regulations it is a criminal offence to organise an event with a larger number of people than is permitted by the regulations.
All-expenses trip
The scandal is not the first time the Oireachtas Golf Society has courted controversy.
In the summer of 2010, the society went on an all-expenses paid trip to Turkey for official celebrations of the 90th anniversary of the Turkish parliament, which had organised a golf tournament for parliamentarians from around the globe.
Among those travelling were Mr Cassidy, Mr Grealish and then Carlow Kilkenny TD Mr Hogan.
Then leader of the Seanad Mr Cassidy was forced to deny claims on his return that he had refused to reopen the Upper House alongside the Dáil the same week because he and his golfing colleagues were staying at the five-star Sueno Hotels Golf Belek resort in the popular coastal resort Antalya.
“I gave up my whole bloody weekend in the name of Ireland,” he said of his trip to Turkey at the time.
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