The government’s being urged to act quickly to appoint Phil Hogan’s replacement.
The EU Trade Commissioner quit last night, a week after he sat down to dinner with the Oireachtas Golf Society in Co Galway.
Former Carlow Kilkenny constituency colleagues have been telling KCLR News of their shock at the latest development. While others are saying it was the right option for the man from Tullaroan.
Just before nine o’clock last night, Mr Hogan said Golfgate had become a distraction from his work, but admitted it just wasn’t going away.
He said he was resigning on his own initiative, and hadn’t been fired by the Commission President. (Read his full statement here).
Ursula von der Leyen said she respected his decision while, back home, the government called it the “correct course of action”.
Fine Gael MEP Seán Kelly says Mr Hogan was out of options, commenting “once the Irish government probably didn’t have confidence in him it was probably the right thing for him not to continue”.
It means giving up one of the most powerful jobs in Brussels and, for Ireland, a crucial portfolio with the Brexit deadline on New Year’s Eve getting uncomfortably close.
Labour leader Alan Kelly says the government should nominate Ireland’s new commissioner before the weekend to try and keep the Trade job, noting “By putting somebody out there of a very high calibre we might make it easier for the President as she may not want to start juggling around all the other commissioners”.
Ultimately Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will decide how they’ll fit into her cabinet.
A reshuffle, and indeed a change in direction on trade policy, are both very real prospects.
And when the dust settles, there’s no guarantee the Irish commissioner will be the trade commissioner.
Meanwhile, on Kilkenny streets opinion remains divided with some locals saying Phil Hogan was good at his job and stood up for Ireland while others point out it’s “a shame to see him gone but he should have thought of that at the time”.
Deputy John McGuinness served with him at Kilkenny County Council level & in the Dail. He’s been telling KCLR News “The golfing event should not have happened & those that attended should have known better. Once it came into the public domain and became the controversy that it now is Phil Hogan because of his position was always going to be centre stage and with the resignation of Dara Calleary as minister it was clear that what was going to happen, you know, that Phil Hogan inevitably was going to face calls for resignation and that essentially is what has happened. It came at a time when the general public were furious about the behaviour in the Dail, the performance of the government and unfortunately for Phil Hogan this added to that anger and was not going to go away and, you known, being forced to resign after 40 years of public life is certainly hard for him and on a personal note it’s a sad day for him, and for his family & those that surround him in terms of the job he has”.
Deputy McGuinness adds “Phil Hogan he would draw the extremes of like or dislike and a lot of people would have worked closely with Phil Hogan. I saw him at first hand as a diligent worker at that level, he certainly represented Ireland abroad in terms of the commissioner’s position very well. He will be missed in terms of his contribution at that level because in Europe it’s about networking, it’s about knowing what your job is about & it’s about achieving, in his case, the trade deals that are so necessary for the rest of Europe, that includes of course Ireland at the centre of things. To have an Irish commissioner there at that level was certainly beneficial to the country”.
