A scandal has descended upon Ireland's political arena after two top public officials -- a minister and senator -- resigned following their attendance in a golf club dinner hosted by parliament, which violated the government's pandemic social distancing policies.
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin announced that he has accepted the resignation of Agriculture Minister Dara Calleary, who served the ministry for only 37 days. Martin called it a "judgment error," and the "right decision."
Wednesday's Irish parliamentary golf event at a hotel in County Galway came a day after Dublin health authorities announced stricter lockdown restrictions. The golf dinner event was attended by more than 80 people -- including public officials as special guests.
Calleary now joins his predecessor in the former Irish ministers' circle. Calleary, who had been minister of agriculture for just a month, replaced Barry Cowen, who was forced to quit following a 2016 drunk-driving controversy which only resurfaced at the time of the government's formation.
In a series of tweets late Thursday, Calleary said he was deeply sorry and that he shouldn't have accepted the invitation and attend the dinner event.
The Ireland police (Gardaí) is now conducting a probe into the event to determine what violations were made under the country's COVID-19 rules.
As this developed, the spotlight is now zooming on to Seamus Woulfe, Irish Supreme Court Justice, and Phil Hogan, Irish European Union Commissioner who were among the guests in the Oireachtas Golf Society dinner in Clifden earlier in the week.
On Twitter, Irish deputy prime minister Leo Varadkar, commented that the event organized by the Oireachtas Golf Society shouldn't have occurred. "I understand how extremely difficult the (COVID-19) restrictions have been for everyone and the enormous sacrifices we've all made."
Varadkar pointed out that special occasions like funerals, weddings, christenings and other very important family occasions have been given up "to protect each other and the most vulnerable." As public servants, he said that "we should lead by example."
Meanwhile, details of the controversial dinner dubbed "Golfgate" and its prominent list of guests were published a day later by the Examiner, triggering a host of apologies and alibis.
Again, the national controversy - as was the case in England and Northern Ireland - was whether top political personalities ignored laws that their own administration has crafted, creating an impression that one specific rule applies for ordinary people -- and another for the politically powerful.
