EU commissioner Phil Hogan to resign over 'Covid breach'

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Phil HoganImage copyright PA Media

EU trade commissioner Phil Hogan is to resign from the role after he was criticised for allegedly breaching coronavirus lockdown restrictions in the Republic of Ireland.

Mr Hogan attended a golf dinner with more than 80 people in County Galway on 19 August.

He was also in the spotlight for not complying with quarantine rules when he arrived from Brussels.

The Irish government said Mr Hogan had "undermined public confidence".

On Tuesday, Mr Hogan provided details to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, about his time in Ireland leading up to his attendance at the Oireachtas (Irish parliament) Golf Society event.

After arriving in the Republic on 31 July, Mr Hogan said he travelled to his temporary residence in Kildare and tested negative for Covid-19 on 5 August during a hospital visit.

He told Irish broadcaster RTÉ he had not breached regulations and argued the test result meant he was "not under any subsequent legal requirement to self-isolate or quarantine".

He did, however, admit he had made mistakes and was embarrassed by the controversy.

'Hesitant release'

Ireland's Department of Health has said a person is required to restrict their movements for 14 days if they arrive into Ireland from a country not on the green list.

It said the guidance does not state that a negative Covid-19 test shortens the 14-days requirement.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, the leaders of the Republic of Ireland's governing coalition said the commissioner had clearly breached guidelines and he should have restricted his movement for 14 days.

Despite welcoming an apology from Mr Hogan, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan criticised a "delayed and hesitant release of information".

They said he should also have limited his movements to and from Kildare for essential travel only, and he should not have attended the golf dinner.

The dinner was attended by a host of high-profile figures from Irish political life.

The controversy surrounding it has already cost the jobs of Agriculture Minister Dara Calleary and Jerry Buttimer, the deputy chairman of the Irish senate.

The timing of the event has been of particular interest.

It took place the day after the Irish government changed its guidelines in the face of an increasing number of Covid-19 cases, with numbers allowed at indoor events cut from 50 to six, with some exceptions.

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