“In light of the updated public health guidance this week I should not have attended the event.”
Minister for Agriculture Dara Calleary has “apologised unreservedly” for attending a golf event with over 80 other people on Wednesday night.
Calleary was one of the guests at an Oireachtas Golf Society event which was held in a hotel in Connemara on Wednesday night.
The event was held 24 hours after the government had announced a tightening of restrictions around the country with advice to limit gatherings to just six at home, 15 outdoors and a max of 50 at events organised in a socially-distanced way.
A report in the Irish Examiner stated that 82 people were in attendance at the event with up to ten people at some tables.
“Last night I attended a function I committed to a number of weeks ago, having been asked to pay tribute to a person I respected and admired greatly,” Calleary said in a statement on Thursday evening.
“In light of the updated public health guidance this week I should not have attended the event.
“I wish to apologise unreservedly to the public, from whom we are asking quite a lot at this difficult time. I also offer this apology and my sincere regret to my government colleagues.”
Calleary was at the dinner where Mark Killelea, one of the founding members of the golf society and a former Fianna Fáil, was being commemorated.
When asked about it at the Department of Health briefing, acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn said he did not know the detail of the event and would not comment on individual cases.
“Clearly in the context of the guidance that’s come out this week, we would not want 80 people gathering inside any event,” Dr Glynn said.
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