Gap in partition wall at centre of 'golfgate' case hearing
By Ann Healy
A ‘gap’ in a rigid, though moveable partition wall, used by a hotel to turn one large function room into two separate rooms to make it comply with Covid-19 regulations during an Oireachtas Golf Society function, is at the centre of the ‘Golfgate’ contested court hearing which started in Galway on Thursday.
The width of the gap has been estimated by various witnesses as anything from eight to three feet and by some witnesses as “the width of a body”.
The duration for which the gap in the partition was opened during the society’s dinner at the Station House Hotel in Clifden on August 19, 2020, and the reasons is was opened in the first place are also at variance, according to evidence heard on Thursday from several people who attended the function.
Former Fianna Fáil senator, Donie Cassidy, and independent TD, Noel Grealish, along with father and son hoteliers, John and James Sweeney, have each denied organising the function, which hosted 81 guests, in breach of Covid-19 regulations that limited indoor gatherings to no more than 50 people at the time.
Opening the prosecution case to Judge Mary Fahy on Thursday, Mr Eoghan Cole BL, said it was the state’s case that a single, indoor event was organised and attended by 81 people on the date in question.
He said the four defendants had organised the event and did not take all reasonable steps to ensure there were fewer than 50 people present at the indoor gathering.
He said guidelines had been published by Bord Fáilte at the time setting out guidance for hoteliers and other business sectors in respect of compliance with the law as it stood then. One section addressed guidelines for the holding of indoor events, he added.
Mr Colm Smyth, SC for Mr Cassidy, said the function was held to mark the 50th anniversary of the society, which was an important society as it had forged links in the past with parliamentarians in Northern Ireland and British governments.
“It was a very important society and not a frivolity,” he said.
He described Mr Cassidy as ‘ a law-maker and not a law-breaker’.
He said the Bord Fáilte guidelines issued to hotels at the time were implemented in consultation with the government and they were regarded as an official government document, carrying the government’s insignia and imprimatur.
He said 80 people had been invited to the golf society dinner and were accommodated in two separate rooms as multiple gatherings of no more that 50 people in each room could be accommodated as per the guidelines.
Mr Cole said guests had been invited to one event by either Mr Cassidy or Mr Grealish and even though the room was divided by a partition, it was still one event.
“During the dinner, the partition was altered for people to hear the speeches. The same staff served at the event and none of the rigid separation occurred. And there was just one event.
“It would be a distortion to say this event involved multiple gatherings. Guests came by invitation to attend one event,” Mr Cole submitted, adding that the guidelines alone “do not have the force of law”.
Mr Michael McDowell SC, who represented Mr Grealish, said there was increased public scrutiny following the event.
“What seems to have happened at the time is there was a misconception following an announcement by the taoiseach the previous evening that there would be a proposal to reduce to six the number of people dining indoors together and that led to increased public scrutiny and concern over the event,
“But the event took place in accordance with guidelines introduced by the government,” Mr McDowell said.
Mr Edward Walsh SC, for John Sweeney, said there appeared to be no complainant put forward by the prosecution and that the subsequent garda investigation came about following a brief report on the function in the Irish Examiner.
He went on to question the reasoning behind the DPP’s decision to prosecute.
Mr Cole said the court would have to decide: was this one event and non-compliant in law, or was it separated satisfactorily into two events?
Evidence from 21 prosecution witnesses was heard on Thursday afternoon, either given directly from the witness box by some, or by Mr Cole reading the statements of others who could not attend into evidence.
All witnesses broadly concurred they ‘felt safe’ and were confident the event was being run in accordance with the HSE Covid guidelines in place at the time.
They said there was a table plan and guests were directed to their seats on entry to the function. There was no mingling between the socially-distanced tables and staff brought food and drink to the tables as there was no bar service.
No one took photos or videos of the event and people wore masks if they needed to leave their tables to go to the toilet.
They concurred the after dinner, speeches and time spent on the presentation of prizes were short.
They did notice the partition between the rooms, and while some thought the partition was open at all times so that hotel servers could go between the rooms, others thought it was only opened when the presentation of prizes was taking place, as prize-winners in one room had to go to the other room to pick up their prizes, which were left on a table for them.
John Flaherty, who is a former Captain of the Guard at Leinster House, was the first witness.
He said he observed a partition between the Kylemore and Omey Suites on the night of the function and saw a route which was open all the time for serving staff. “It was at one side of the room, beside a pillar, approximately one metre in width and was there to facilitate staff movement from one suite to the other,” he said.
He agreed with Mr McDowell that Deputy Grealish had been asked by Mr Cassidy to stand in as captain for the two-day event and that former justice Pat McCartan became president of the society that night.
Mr Rod McAuliffe, who was invited to attend the golf outing by Mr Flaherty, said he wasn’t aware there were more guests in the other room beside the room he was in because there was no engagement or interaction between the rooms before the meal started.
He said he then noticed the partition was opened six to eight feet, near a pillar, after the tables were cleared and the speech-making started.
Former Oireachtas staff member, Cait Hayes, gave evidence she had checked the layout of the rooms earlier that evening as she had brought a friend with an underlying medical condition to the function. She said she was satisfied the layout fully complied with regulations and that she and her friend both felt ‘safe’ attending the dinner.
She described a partition which divided the room into two, from floor to ceiling. It was closed, she said, until people came from the second room to collect their prizes at the end of the function.
Everyone present felt safe and confident as hotel staff were strict with Covid regulation compliance at all times, Senator Aidan Davitt told the hearing.
He was shocked and amazed that the speeches and presentation of prizes took just 15 minutes.
He also noted the Sweeneys were around the hotel at all times, making everyone aware of the Covid regulations. They were keen, he said, ‘to put their best foot forward’ as they were aware of the political and judicial profile of guests attending the function.
DON’T OVER-EGG IT
Mr McDowell asked the senator if as a member of Seanad Éireann he was comfortable being there.
Mr Davitt replied: “Donie assured me he had a letter from the Hotels Federation and a letter from the Dept of Tourism and he produced evidence of the correspondence to me earlier. Donie had been in touch with the tourism board and they all went to every extreme to ensure regulation were complied with,” he replied.
“Don’t over-egg it,” Judge Fahy cautioned the senator.
Mr McDowell said he didn’t want to upset the media but he asked witness if he saw any of the people present at the function applying different rules to those applied to members of the public.
Senator Davitt replied ‘No’. In contrast, he said, he and his wife stopped in Galway city on the way back. “It was like the Wild West in one premises. We went into a room with over 200 people, with no masks on, and no social-distancing,” he said.
Mr McDowell pressed him, saying there was a perception abroad at the time that people did not comply with the rules at the function.
Senator Davitt disagreed, stating the event was ‘well marshaled’.
“Is there any sense this was being done away from the public gaze?,” counsel asked.
“No. There were people staying in the hotel who were not at the function and all were mixing together and all were aware of the same regulations, so no one was treated any differently,” he replied.
Mr Walsh put it to the senator that the government of Ireland produced guidelines for business to operate at the time “and now we are being told the document means nothing”.
“Does that upset you as a legislator? And as a legislator you might address the government about why they are asking people to holiday at home and then pillory businessmen.”
Cavan Monaghan TD, Paudge Connolly, said he had carefully checked beforehand that it was safe to attend the function, for personal medical reasons. There were two separate entrances to the rooms, he said, and people did not mingle. He said the partition was opened slightly to facilitate two people going to the other room to collect their prizes.
Mr Cole read six other witness statements into evidence on their behalf with the consent of the defence teams.
Mr Paul Daly, who is a member of the Agricultural panel in the Seanad, said in his statement he would not have attended the function if he had not been assured it was fully compliant. He said he immediately issued a public apology through his Twitter account in the aftermath of the event.
Mr Darragh Killilea said in his statement he attended the function with his mother to honour his father’s memory as a founding member of the society.
They were shown straight to their table on arrival, he said, after he had first spoken briefly to Dara Calleary at the door.
He said the prizes and speeches took place in the room after the meal and he noticed a three-foot gap opened in the partition to allow people from the other room to collect their prizes.
“The table was wiped down between presentations,” he observed.
He said he had been assured by Mr Cassidy that the function was fully Covid compliant.
“Mr Cassidy showed me an email he had received from the Hotels Federation, backed up by Bord Fáilte, that any new regulations were not coming in until later that week,” Mr Killilea said in his statement.
Other witness statements concurred the partition ‘gap’ was closed during the meal but was opened during the prize-giving ceremony. Everyone left the function promptly after it finished around 11pm, they all agreed.
After Mr Cole had finished reading the statements, Judge Fahy asked the five legal teams if they were happy to resume the hearing on February 3 and 4. Galway District was particularly busy, she said, and more so now due to Covid, but she indicated she had set aside those two dates if the parties were agreeable.
“With any luck, this case will finish tomorrow for my client. He is most anxious to have it finished,” Mr McDowell said.
Judge Fahy cautioned that some of the evidence on the first day of the hearing was repetitive and she suggested both sides work together to shorten matters.
The trial resumes today (Friday) at 10am.