Former Chief Justice Susan Denham has been requested to consider certain questions arising out of the attendance of Mr Justice Seamus Woulfe at the Oireachtas Golf Society outing and dinner in Connemara, Co Galway last week.

The report’s conclusions and recommendations will then be given to the Chief Justice Frank Clarke.

Mrs Justice Denham has agreed to the requested review and will commence her work immediately. 

Mrs Justice Denham has been asked to consider whether Mr Justice Woulfe should have accepted the invitation to dinner in a Clifden hotel, following the golf outing at Connemara Golf Club in Ballyconneely.

Situation

The former chief justice will also consider whether Mr Justice Woulfe should, in all the circumstances, have left the hotel in the light of the situation prevailing.

Furthermore, the former chief justice will examine whether Mr Justice Woulfe should have attended the golf event without attending the dinner.  

In the context of those questions, Mrs Justice Denham has also been asked to consider whether there are any relevant codes of practice or guidelines and to make any recommendations in that regard which she considers appropriate. 

A Courts Service statement said that this non-statutory approach has been necessitated because relevant sections of the Judicial Council Act 2019 have not yet been commenced.

Mr Justice Woulfe was appointed attorney general in June 2017 and was appointed to the Supreme Court on 24 July this year.

Last week, Mr Justice Woulfe unreservedly apologised for his attendance at the golf outing.

Apology

He said that "on learning of the proposed dinner during the course of that day, my understanding was that the organisers and the hotel had satisfied themselves that they would be operating within Government public health guidelines."

Mr Justice Woulfe said his attendance was based on the understanding that it would be within the Government guidelines.

"That I ended up in a situation where breaches may have occurred, is of great regret to me, and for which I am sorry," he said.

"I unreservedly apologise."

Retired

Mrs Justice Denham retired from the Supreme Court in July 2017. 

Since then, she has been running a Connemara Pony stud farm in Roundwood, Co Wicklow.