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.
Sligo/Leitrim TD Marc MacSharry says the Golf Society scandal has been a disaster — but it’s time to move forward.
Just before nine o’clock last night, Phil 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.
Ursula von der Leyen said she respected his decision — and back home, the government called it the “correct course of action”.
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.
