Kelly critical of Woulfe explanation

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The Labour Party leader says that “nobody credibly believes” the version of events put forward by the Justice Minister about the appointment of Supreme Court judge Seamus Woulfe.

Helen McEntee told the Dáil yesterday of a meeting where Leo Varadkar remarked that Mr Woulfe would make a good appointment.

She says she then applied her own criteria when considering Mr Woulfe and five other sitting judges to decide who should get the job.

Tipperary TD Alan Kelly says that such a process, without the input of the Taoiseach, is hard to believe.

“Imagine being a Fianna Fáil supporter and actually having to believe the following:

‘That the Taoiseach of Ireland, Micheál Martin, is the first Taoiseach in the history of the state who hadn’t a clue, not a notion. It was said to him during Programme for Government about a Judicial Appointments Advisory Board process and then just before he went into Cabinet.’

“Like there’s no Taoiseach worth their salt – you don’t get to appoint Supreme Court Judges very often and they’re extremely important.”