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FIANNA FÁIL TD and party whip, Seán Ó Fearghaíl, has joined the growing calls for the independent TD Mick Wallace to resign his seat following revelations that he under declared VAT returns before he took office.
It comes amid a report from RTÉ tonight that the government has begun attempts to have the Dáil discuss a motion of censure of Wallace.
The government chief whip did not return messages tonight while the government said only that no course of action had been finalised in relation to the independent TD.
Earlier, Wallace agreed to leave the Dáil Technical Group after being asked to do so by independent members of the group while the Ceann Comhairle Seán Barret denied the Wexford deputy’s request for speaking time in the Dáil tomorrow to offer a personal explanation.
Wallace has come in for considerable criticism and calls for his resignation after he disclosed last week that he had knowingly under declared the VAT his company, M and J Wallace Ltd, owed to the Revenue Commissioners.
He reached a settlement of €2.1 million with the tax authorities which he now says he cannot repay as the company is insolvenet.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie today, Ó Fearghaíl said: “Personally, should he resign? Yes I think he probably should however I think he’s made it quite clear that he has no intention of doing that.”
The Fianna Fáil TD for Kildare South said he had not been informed of any motion of censure being in the works but said his party would support it if it came to fruition.
The independent TD and Technical Group whip Catherine Murphy questioned whether there were grounds for such a censure motion given that Wallace’s settlement was reached prior to him taking office last year.
She told TheJournal.ie: “I would have to see what it was. If it was unprecedented, I don’t want any precedent created that would be used in the future inappropriately.”
Murphy said she had formally requested that the government chief whip, Paul Kehoe, schedule time in the Dáil this week for the matter to be addressed.
Kehoe did not return requests for comment.
When asked if the government was formulating a censure motion, a spokesperson for the Taoiseach’s office told TheJournal.ie: “No course of action has been finalised by government.”
Mick Wallace could not be reached for comment.
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Just what we need, another apology. What’s that now? Another 75 to go?
@Fr. Fintan Stack: They should all be self-isolating along with their close contacts until they can be tested and the results are known.
@Mark Waldron: exactly, considering Paudge Connolly was only a few days back from Spain when he attended!
@Fr. Fintan Stack: Exactly shut up apologising. Ye knew it was wrong, ye got caught. I play golf (very badly). The golf club and society i am a member of have been adhering to the rules. Outings can happen with restrictions but NO presentations. It’s obvious to everyone. The same as every other sporting organisation. So can only deduce they decided “them rules are for little people”. I am raging for people who didn’t get a chance to visit dying relatives; grandparents not able to have family around; people out of work or on reduced hours; people trying yo keep their shop or pub or small business afloat.
@Ger Murphy: apologies are meaningless here…fire them and close the hotel forever…there have to be consequences
@Mark Waldron: It’s so sad he spent all that time washing and combing his hair and then forgot to bring it with to him poor old Donie
@Roger Dawson: Who said the Galway tent is thing of the Past.
Fake news
@Fr. Fintan Stack: ahh! But when they all apologise it will be OK. The peasants will be pleased with that. NOT!
@Fr. Fintan Stack: Fully agree with you. Protest today big turn out. Fake RTE news said 500 people when there was 5k to 7k
@Ger Murphy: Like; Golfers, Going from one hole to another.!!
@Gere: ah now come on don’t start Trump fake news BS.
@Will Molloy: Dont agree re the hotel. Fine them as per the regs. Nothing more.
@Gere: Protest with no face masks disgraceful !
Another example of the golden circle.
A so called Oireachtas event for only FF and FG along with their buddies in the judiciary, banks and media.
@LangerDan: ex worker party, labour and a number of independents were also in attendance, mary Lou mentioned the golf society in a speech in the dail back in February(and not in a bad way), she and SF knew about it, but dont play golf. Everyone within the dail knew about it.
@Galwaygogo: That goes in direct contradiction to what many in the Dáil said yesterday including members of the SocDems Labour and Sinn Féin. I tried looking for that Mary Lou debate but came up empty handed,- do you mind linking (not that it is relevant)? I bet you think the shadowy figures forbid the Shinners from playing golf?
@LangerDan: Aye you just try and spin it and make it as its SF who arr in the wrong rather than hold those responsible, doesnt matter if ML knew or didnt know about the golf society, she and nobody in her party where in attendance.
@Santi Charlie Bravo: Ehm. I’m basically arguing the same thing?
@LangerDan: You mean like the shadowy figures that turned up to the golf outing . The dinners and golf behind closed doors which a government minister conveniently forgot. The shadowy figures that shredded documents during the criminal trial of Sean Fitzpatrick. That was on F.Gs watch.. Now where would you like to start on F.F.
@Donal Desmond: I was being sarcastic when I mentioned the shadowy figures. I was projecting that all too frequent claim onto the other person I was replying to. Please re-read again.
@Galwaygogo: “…mary Lou mentioned the golf society in a speech in the dail back in February(and not in a bad way), she and SF knew about it, but dont play golf.”
No disrespect but that has got to be one of the most bizarre statements I’ve ever read on the Journal !!!
@Galwaygogo:
“For a full picture of how power and influence works in this country, it would be important to know which TD’s and Senators have been invited to take part in the Oireachtas Golf Society.
I haven’t.” – Garry Gannon, Social Democrats
There were 8-10 people at each table. The entire country knows that is not allowed even before the guidance changed on Wednesday . Will the Gardai be investigating if the hotel bar was open after dinner and if so what time it closed at and if social distancing was being practiced in the lobby before and after ? How long did the event go on for , was it just the 105 mins to consume the meal ? They all knew exactly what they were doing and tryijg to wraselnoutbofbit by sayijg you expected the hotel had that covered is a complete cop out.
@Darren Moore: that “trying should say weasel out of it by saying “
@Darren Moore: you Somehow managed to get drunk before your last sentence.
@Dara O’Brien: doh
@Darren Moore: irish times reported yesterday that there was no social distancing, no masks and also some of them were shaking hands. But the golden circle are untouched.
@Darren Moore: My understanding is that they played golf too, and I doubt many went home that night and stayed in the hotel. So you are looking at lunch, breakfast as well as the dinner and all the staff needed to make that happen. Did guests pay for golf, food, drink and beds?, did Oireachtas Golf Society pay the costs, and where does this golf society get its funding?
They could have rescheduled this event for any time.
@Darren Moore: Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It’s what separates us from the animals…except the weasel.
@Darren Moore: Wasting your time Darren.Are the Gardai going to take a High Court judge to court? Think of that.They are only sorry they were caught.By the way that judge should not be mixing with those other people in attendance.But that’s what happens all the time and we never hear about it.Remember this the next time you vote.
The wig shop would like to also apologise
@Frank Discussion: Probably getting a grant every year due to “thatch” now being endangered.
@Frank Discussion: no wigs were harmed in the making of this article
@Frank Discussion: Well it’s not Donnie Osmond
Why is nobody looking into how Gerry Brady & Aine Kitt plus 8 guests were there when they live in Kildare?
Surely they were invited and encouraged to attend despite the lockdown. Surely everyone there knew they were from Kildare and knew it was in lockdown?
The whole thing stinks.
@Dara O’Brien: she has a house in clifden
@Dara O’Brien: More fianna failers. Easily known they are back in government.
@Galwaygogo: That makes it worse as she should have not been next or near Clifden even if there wasn’t a hooly.
@Galwaygogo: were any of her other eight guests from Kildare?
@Dara O’Brien: you’re dead right. Absolute disgrace that Aine and Gerry Brady were there. From Co. Kildare and sitting at a table of 10 people. Beggars belief.
That’s some wig on Donie
@John McCann: No, I think that’s Henry Sellers.
@John McCann: Windy day he’d be in trouble.
@John McCann: just goes to show, always buy a good carpet, you’ll get years of wear out of it.
@John McCann: Completely undetectable
@Fr. Fintan Stack: Classic!
@John McCann: Remember the Scrap Saturday skit featuring Donie musing that he loved nothing more than to to drive open-top through the countryside in his convertible, the wind blowing through his glorious head of hair…but said he, “I always go back to pick it up on the way back”. After lots of complaints to RTÉ from Donie himself they were forced to issue an apology on the next show. “We would like to acknowledge that it is indeed Donie’s own hair…and he has the receipts to prove it!”
@John McCann: Remember the Scrap Saturday skit featuring Donie musing that he loved nothing more than to to drive open-top through the countryside, the wind blowing through his hair…but said he, “I always go back to pick it up after”. After Donie complained to RTÉ and made a high fuss…they were forced to issue an apology on the next show; “We would like to acknowledge that Donie does indeed own his own head of hair and…he even has the receipts to prove it!”
Have I missed something or has it been published who paid the bill for all of this.
@Mick Hogan: you paid
@trebloc01: In less than 14 days we’ll at least know who paid, health wise.
@Mick Hogan: It was 140 euro per person for two days of golf and dinner, a lot of them went for dinner only and a lot of them including Enda Kenny, Dick Spring played golf only. The partition was taken down for the speeches. Other guests at the hotel said there was no social distancing being observed.
@trebloc01: they each paid €140 euro for the golf and the food.
@Brianán McBride: partition apparently wasn’t taken down for speeches, they used the PA.
I’m picturing Father Jack “I’m reeeeeeally sorry!”
Yep…a consumate ‘Feel and Failer”, showband promoter, hotel owner and ‘Syrup’ wearer….Just perfect credentials for the catalyst to bring the Government down. What a bloke and what an operator. Looks like FF are simply pre-programmed to implode with chancers like this in their gene pool.
The only “events” allowed with a maximum of 50 people including staff are weddings. The Hotel knew this, the owner also owns other Hotels. They allowed the event to go ahead despite this. Consequences?
@Dave P: None ..It was cleared by the hotel federation…in saying that members of government who attend are the same people who brought in the new restrictions by entering the room they knew they were braking these restrictions. The likes of Seamus Woulfe claimed he knew nothing of the dinner…luckily he happened to have a suit handy. Golden circle still alive and well.
No more apologies please.
We don’t need insincere sorrow.
I’m still struggling to imagine their thought process.
They must have all taken the same IQ test as DT
They should all be quarantined along with their families until they can all be tested for Covid-19.
@Mark Waldron: Preferably in City West; might as well not expose the rest of the country to Covid.
Eighty One (81) A-holes turn up to play
Eighteen (18) golf holes. Crazy golf more like and not a ball of sense between the lot of them.
Wonder what their handicaps are, no doubt a lot of Scratch players scratching each other’s backs.
@James Keogh: And one of them ( the judge?) said he didn’t know there was a dinner after!
As if anyone would drive that distance and be waved off without so much as a sandwich.
@Mairead Jenkins: ha ha. Of course he didn’t. I doubt very much he had a pre packed salad in the boot
Councillors now need to resign their posts in all counties. Bret from kilkenny resigned this morning.. more shoutingg from the public!! Bring down the government
@Pete Crosbie: he resigned from the party, he is still a councillor, will still get paid and vote in accordance with FG whip until this blows over and is invited back into the party
@Pete Crosbie: He only resignd from FG once they removed the party whip.
He is stll vice chairman of the council.
@Pete Crosbie: He only resignd from FG once they removed the party whip.
He is stlll vice chairman of the council.
@KilkennyProud: And now he has announced that he has NOT resigned from FG!
Pathetic. Trying to drip feed us with apologies until we get tired of the whole thing and it dies down.
@Stephen Byrne: This will not die down. This is like no other political scandal where somebody took an envelope or was caught offside..this directly involves everyone. They have completely underestimated this one…Every time they come up with some new restriction people will resent it because these muppets did this and GOT AWAY WITH IT…
@Stephen Byrne: I really don’t believe this will die down completely and utterly unforgivable.
@Will Molloy: This will be forgotten about very soon, just like all the other corruption/scandals FFG have been involved in for the past 40 years. Yet the goldfish still vote them back in everytime.
The dictionary had a nice example for unreservedly
“Where there is corruption, this must be unreservedly condemned.”
Except it was designed to thwart the older, looser legislation as it was. Keep digging.
And if it is officially nothing to do with government why was it using the stationary/printing service and is it being subbed or funded by government in any way..
@l: Oh, right – the way FFail bypassed the construction legislation last time we let them in. Leaving so many of us in substandard buildings with no escrow fund to make it good. They’re only in the door and already “misunderstanding” regulations meant to protect us all.
Why do Calleary’s political colleagues keep saying he made the right decision. He did not. He made the wrong decision to attend the golf society dinner and was allowed to resign before he was sacked.
@Noel Kelly: Micheál Martin said he showed leadership by resigning. The mind truly boggles.
Can we get the names of all the individuals attending this event, also there positions society.
I would be very surprised if a few senior Garda and a scattering of medical officials present.
Knowing how FF/FG operated in the past it wouldn’t be a surprise if they had thrown Calleary & Co under the bus to protect others.
“ FULL LIST OF NAMES PLEASE “
@Mike Moran: TD’s, senators, judges, journalists, lobbyists, ex politicians, an ambassador and supposedly 2/3 fund managers.
@Mike Moran: Totally agree. We need to shame them and make sure we don’t give them a vote when the next election comes. This event should have been cancelled.
Surely Mehole must have known about it.
No better than free masons the lot of them.
Save it.
There should be no such thing as an Oireachtas golf club…
@David Lee:
Nothing at all wrong with an organization having a Golf Society, where committee arranges golfing/social events throughout the year at different golf clubs around the country.
Civil Service, Judiciary, Journalists, Clergy, Oireachtas (up to yesterday!), larger companies, etc, all have well managed golf societies.
Many golf clubs, hotels, restaurants throughout the land derive a large chunk of annual revenues – in normal times – from these very sociable events.
Golf Club & Hotel – loc nearly 200 miles from Dublin, where Dail summer hols OGS events are normally held, are probably hanging on by a thread due to Covid-19, like many – are entirely blameless for fiasco that ensued. OGS failed its members, visitors and the Public through poor C-19 planning and communications.
It all seems like a really bad dream in light of what we are all enduring and sacrificing at the moment. Please where is the common sense? Maybe they were all drunk before they got to dinner. There has to be a reason other than “I’m so sorry I didn’t know…”
Was there even a golfball hit at this bloody thing!?!
Presuming that a sizeable number were staying at the hotel, I wonder what the set up at breakfast was…Was it a buffet or waiter service? Another opportunity to flout the rules I imagine,if they were all up in time demanding the full works.
On the other hand, perhaps they woke fully remorseful and got straight into their cars without so much as an instant coffee, ashamed to show their faces…..
He’ll have to WIGgle out of that one….
About as believable as his hair
@Alan:
Seamus Woulfe resign or spend a month in prison. if someone broke bail conditions then you would jail them, you broke the law
Just look at the schleevne who organised it.
It wasn’t your ‘intention’ to disregard the advice? Yes it was. You knew what the advice was and chose to ignore it. It’s more insulting to give this non-apology and think people are stupid enough to believe it.
‘Unreserved apologies’ in #golfgate are akin to ‘thoughts and prayers’ after a mass shooting- both are easy to say and utterly useless!
Can we get the names of all the individuals attending this event, also there positions in society.
I would be very surprised if a few senior Garda and a scattering of medical officials were also in attendance.
Knowing how FF/FG operated in the past it wouldn’t be a surprise if they had thrown Calleary & Co under the bus to protect others.
“ FULL LIST OF NAMES PLEASE “
This isnt the end of this yet .we will here soon about the hookers hired to entertain them.i mean it wouldnt shock at this stage.
@Lisa Quinn: hear soz
@Lisa Quinn: The Galway Hooker …
@Logan Shepherd: lol take a bow sir
Apologies not needed from you bunch of self entitled so called highly educated members of our society!!! You don’t mean it, you are just sorry you got caught.
My soon to be 11 year old son understands he can’t have a birthday party, why can’t you follow simple guidelines??!!
Also personally I think it is unethical that you are all socialising together!!
Donnie the roof rack Cassidy haven’t heard of him in years.
Apologies dont cut it. They all knew what the guide lines were and they didnt care, thought it didnt apply to them as they think they are the ‘elite’. People have given up such to obey the guidelines and then we have to hear about these clowns. I’m disgusted, but then they think we are stupid dont they.
“I have been legally advised not to make any further comment at this time.”
Shouldn’t this be the FF/FG motto at this stage?
Rumour has it that the golf dinner was a memorial dinner. Has anyone got details.
Has Phil Hogan been sacked yet?
Always knew TD s don’t live in our world
Jail the parasite
No more apologies, resignations or sackings for any of #golfgate that are on the public payroll
Off with his head
He apologises and then immediately hides behind legal advice.
I am totally sick of this charade.
@Virus-free Turkey: And a pioneer pin.
That’s it. I’m off.
An apology doesn’t work for me it should never have went ahead did all those muppets think no one was going to find out
Seamus Woulfe resign or spend a month in prison. if someone broke bail conditions then you would jail them, you broke the law do as we do
This is the biggest 2 fingers to the ordinary decent citizens of this country since the founding of the state ( we were all to blame for the excess that brought on austerity )
I hate to say this but they all have to go – this is FF of old in the Galway tent x 10000000000 !!!
Saw this earlier… just about sums it up
Planning a house party at my gaff. I can only invite 30 but ye have to bring schoolbooks with ye…..no wait, I can invite 40 but we have to say Mass beforehand…..no wait, I can invite 50 of ye but two of ye have to get married…..no wait I can invite 80 of ye but ye have to bring golf clubs.
So in essence if you’re having a wedding then the wedding mass gives you 40, the wedding itself gives you 50. If we teach ye something during the mass that adds another thirty and shur we’ll play a round of golf beforehand so that gives us another 80…. so you can still have 200 at the wedding… SORTED!
Jesus Christ! Cassidy is wearing a wig in the photo on top of this article.
I’m gonna have to step out of reading any news for a while. This is just too much for me.
@Virus-free Turkey: Cassidy has been wearing a wig with the last 80 years
Massive anti lock down protest at costoms House
@BriP75: customs ffs
It’s like a blast from the past. I thought some of these guys were dead (Donie Cassidy) but they come back to haunt us, just in case we thought the golden circle era was dead
Always was the Donald Trump of FF
Who are the civilians that attended @ why
Donie just want a good gig
Why would a T.D. be checking guidelines with the IHF, is there no goverment dept that could have thrown light on the subject?
Cosy cartel
Is he related to Bradley WIGgins
There’ll be wigs on the green for Donie.
Why wouldn’t he just let the hair sit?
He only sorry he got caught.. most corrupt man I know . ..old style politics..
Makes you wonder with everyday Covid advice do people listen and learn.Does the herd instinct take over at such a gathering. Just hope its doesn’t result in new clusters of infection resulting in more strain of front line health workers
Old farts club.
This Man is actually Vice President of Fianna Fáil Party. What has Micheal to say to him?.
WHO CARES
Hogan doesn’t care, he doesn’t need anything from Ireland any more. I think he’s being very polite about the whole thing.
when Donie Cassidy is on a video conference call his rug really ties the zoom together
Haven’t folks learned that apologies mean nothing in the current cancel culture. Sad, but true.
wig-man here looking very suspicious , hogan looking like he ate a lemon, then that other muppet looking like hes just eaten a bag of bees. Very unflattering
Ok he resigned, dug will he still get his pension, personality no he should not get it, after what he did,
have your say