Two have already resigned after an outcry over their attendance at a dinner hosted at the hotel last week and organized by the Golf Society of the country’s legislature, the Oireachtas. The gathering took place a day after the government tightened coronavirus restrictions to combat a spike in infections, and has sparked a backlash that has also threatened the jobs of two other public figures. The fallout from the private gala dinner reverberated well beyond Ireland on Monday as the future of the country’s representative on the European Commission and the European Union’s trade commissioner, Phil Hogan, hangs in the balance following his attendance. Now known as “GolfGate,” the uproar is being compared to the outcry in Britain over a breach of lockdown restrictions by Dominic Cummings, a close aide to Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Though Mr. Cummings survived that episode, critics said it eroded public trust in the British government and risked undermining compliance with coronavirus rules.

Source: New York Times August 25, 2020 09:33 UTC