Seamus Woulfe hearing Supreme Court case for first time
Updated / Thursday, 4 Feb 2021
16:23
Mr Justice Seamus Woulfe, a former Attorney General, was appointed to the court last July after the change in Governmen
Legal Affairs Correspondent
Mr Justice Seamus Woulfe is sitting as a judge of the Supreme Court for the first time today.
He is sitting with Mr Justice Donal O Donnell and Mr Justice Peter Charleton to hear applications for leave to appeal to the court.
They will consider the three applications in chambers or in private, as is usual for applications for leave.
In the current circumstances, the sitting will take place via video conference with the judges in their separate homes or chambers.
RTÉ Courts Reporter
Mr Justice Seamus Woulfe is listed to sit on a panel with his Supreme Court colleagues next month to hear applications for leave to appeal.
It is the first time Judge Woulfe s name has been listed in the Supreme Court s diary since his appointment in July of last year.
He has not yet been assigned to hear any cases, according to the current list but will sit on a three-judge panel to consider applications for leave to appeal on 4 February alongside Mr Justice Donal O Donnell and Mr Justice Peter Charleton.
The judge was embroiled in controversy after he attended an Oireachtas Golf Society dinner in Clifden last August.
Should we not know a little more about the man who is poised to take the most important job in our legal world? What makes him tick? No, it doesn t work like that. Apparently the less we know of his background, his lifestyle, or his character, the better.
A little research last week revealed some intriguing aspects to Donal s life.
He has committed no obvious sins, but surely all candidates for the Supreme Court merit questions about their lifestyle and activities, including their attitude to hospitality past and present. Special standards of behaviour are required of judges. Golfgate and Séamus Woulfe proved that.
Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Regina Doherty, lost her seat. Photo: Frank McGrath
There were a number of shock high-profile casualties, with Minister for Social Protection Regina Doherty, chief whip Seán Kyne, Minister of State Michael D’Arcy as well as Kate O’Connell, Marcella Corcoran-Kennedy and Tom Neville all losing their seats. Former Transport Minister Shane Ross and Fianna Fáil’s Lisa Chambers and Fiona O’Loughlin were also amongst those who lost out.
Fianna Fáil did not do near as well as expected and finished with 38 seats, while Sinn Féin celebrated a historic first, with 37 seats after receiving the most first-preference votes. It was the party’s best result since 1923. But there was another historic first about to counteract that, as Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael laid aside their Civil War-era differences and by June, together with the Green Party, agreed a programme to enter government together.
Is this the first year we’ve really paid attention to the words of the Christmas songs we sing each year and noticed the one thing they all take for granted is togetherness?