‘I was humiliated and treated like a criminal,’ Phil Hogan hits out at Golfgate ‘mob’

22nd February 2022

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It’s almost 18 months to the day since Phil Hogan fell on his sword and accepted he would have to resign as EU Trade Commissioner.

He has been unusually quiet in the interim but with a court case linked to the ‘Golfgate’ controversy now concluded, it’s clear that Mr Hogan has bones to settle in Dublin and Brussels. 

In an interview with the Irish Independent, he has taken aim at both Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar. 

The ex-minister’s re-emergence will be more worrying for the latter who he helped get elected as leader of Fine Gael. 

He has not ruled out legal action for compensation, indicating that he believes his bosses in Brussels bowed to political and media pressure rather than sticking to fair procedures.

While dismissing charges against those accused of organising the Golfgate dinner in contravention of Covid rules, a judge said earlier this month that “a lot of very good people lost very good jobs”.

Clearly putting himself in that category, the ex-Fine Gael minister told the Irish Independent: “The Taoiseach and Tánaiste should reflect on the court outcome and publicly address the issues arising from it in the interests of the people who attended that event.

“The outcome of the court process in Galway demonstrates that everybody who attended that event in good faith was humiliated and treated as a criminal for the past year and a half.”

He added: “Notwithstanding their best efforts to comply with all regulations in holding the Clifden event, it was not good enough to meet the demands of the political and media mob.”

The former EU trade commissioner also insisted that, apart from the Oireachtas golf dinner in Clifden, reported accounts of his other movements in different parts of the country were never the subject of investigation – much less any question of charges for breach of Covid-19 rules or guidelines.

His comments come as the issue returns to haunt Leo Varadkar. The Tánaiste has been called on by Fine Gael senator Paddy Burke to correct comments he allegedly made at a Fine Gael parliamentary meeting about the Oireachtas golf outing dinner in Clifden on August 19, 2020.

Mr Burke, along with Fine Gael senators John Cummins of Waterford and Jerry Buttimer of Cork, lost the party whip over the controversy.

The row feeds into other matters including Mr Varadkar’s own problems as the subject of an ongoing garda investigation into his alleged leaking of documents.

Mr Hogan confirmed his a report in French newspaper, Libération, in which its long-time Europe Correspondent, Jean Quatremer, said that Mr Hogan “did not rule out the idea of demanding compensation for the damage suffered”.

In August 2020 Mr Hogan apologised for attending the Oireachtas Golf Society dinner in Clifden, Co Galway. But he strongly denied that he breached Covid-19 quarantine rules.

Mr Hogan told the Irish Independent his view that he was obliged to quit his job despite never, ever, being accused of breaking any law in Ireland – or ever breaching any of his obligations as an EU Commissioner.

He also effectively accused both Dublin and Brussels of insisting on his resignation for political reasons only and without any basis in law.

He added that these political moves were driven by both social media and other public pressures in Irish politics and media generally.

The Kilkenny man – who was also EU agriculture commissioner from 2014 until 2019 in charge of 40pc of the EU budget – said there are important issues about ensuring due process under law in the removal of any EU Commissioner.

He further argued that these matters also raise serious questions about the policy-guiding Commission’s necessary independence from governments.

“You cannot allow a member government insist on the removal of a Commissioner without due process in line with the EU treaties. Otherwise you could have commissioners being removed every other day,” he said.

EU officials stonewalled when queried about Mr Hogan’s statement yesterday. The Commission’s chief spokesman, Eric Mamer, faced a barrage of questions at the midday daily press briefing from French, German and Italian journalists, which focused on the independence of the EU executive from member state pressures.

But Mr Mamer insisted the issue was now closed and he repeatedly referred to statements made by former Commissioner Hogan and EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, which date back to his resignation date in August, 2020.

In Dublin last night the Taoiseach’s spokesman did not respond to requests for a reaction. Neither did a spokesman for Mr Varadkar, but senior Government sources insisted Mr Hogan had to resign because he lost the confidence of the EU Commission President and pointed to other comments from Brussels HQ saying this was due to other issues – not just the Golfgate dinner.

Mr Hogan’s move follows the verdict of Judge Mary Fahy on February 3 last which cleared four men of any wrongdoing in holding a dinner following a golf outing by TDs and senators and associated people under the aegis of the Oireachtas golf society.

Judge Fahy ruled that organisers had made every effort to respect the regulations and succeeded in doing that.

In the days of controversy which followed the event, a number of other senior people were forced to resign.​​​​​​