A toast, a tweet, and a political storm: inside the DFA Champagne party
Controversy: Former secretary general Niall Burgess’s now-infamous selfie of the Champagne party that took place at the Department of Foreign Affairs in June 2020, while the rest of the country was in lockdown. Photo: Niall Burgess Twitter
February 01 2022 02:30 AM
In the lead-up to the UN Security Council vote in June 2020, senior Department of Foreign Affairs officials put in place a plan to have staff on site on the night should they need to mount “a fast, responsive and effective mini-campaign”.
A report into the controversial celebration in Iveagh House said this was necessary so staff could lobby for votes across the world and would have involved officials working all night.
