Tag Archives: Katherine Zappone

This morning.

Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin 2.

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence Simon Coveney TD disembarking the L.É. Samuel Beckett at the Naval Service 75th anniversary.

Sam Boal/RollingNews

Meanwhile…

Meanwhile…

This evening.

Simon Coveney is addressing the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs about the appointment of Katherine Zappone.

Watch live here.

Earlier

From left: Katherine Zappone, Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney celebrate after Ireland secured a seat on the UN Security Council last year

This afternoon.

Ahead of an appearance later by Simon Coveney at an Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence meeting to explain his role in the appointment of Katherine Zappone as a UN envoy for free speech.

Via Independent.ie:

In his opening statement to the committee the Fine Gael minister will say that Ms Zappone had reached out to him last summer to mention that she would be available “to help in any way she could in our work at the UN”.

His statement notes that when she served in Government the former independent TD worked as a special envoy for Ireland’s successful bid to be on the UN Security Council before she “stepped down and left politics last summer”.

“In February of this year we spoke and Katherine Zappone told me of work she was doing in the UN system. At no point in that conversation did I consider that she was lobbying me for a job.

“Following on from that conversation however, I reflected on the fact that Katherine Zappone was a former Irish Minister, had been heavily involved in our Security Council campaign, had campaigned all her life on issues of equality and was now living in New York.”

Mr Coveney said that late in February he met with his secretary general to review Ireland’s first months on the UN Security Council and at the end of the meeting asked for his view on whether Ms Zappone “could be of any use to our team in New York. He told me he would reflect on that”….

…Mr Coveney states that that in light of the “increasingly polarised debate on human rights internationally” including with the EU, his department officials recommended a role with a broad mandate focussing on freedom of expression…..

I approached Katherine Zappone and asked if she’d be interested in taking this role in principle. She said she would and I handed the process back to my Secretary General.”

Good times.

Coveney sought UN role for Zappone before controversial special envoy appointment (Independent.ie)

RollingNews

Last night.

Meanwhile…

More as we get it.

Previously: Merriongate on Broadsheet

This morning.

Resign EVERYONE!

Yesterday: Cash For Cronies

From top: Miriam O’Callaghan (left) and Katherine Zappone; Fergus Finlay

This morning.

Further to Merriongate…

…via Fergus Finlay in the Irish Examiner:

On July 18, I heard Katherine tell Miriam O’Callaghan on the radio that she would probably live in the US for the rest of her life. She’d visit Ireland, of course, but she had put her house on the market and was severing her connections with her adopted country. (The house is indeed on the market, with lots of promotional material about the work done by Dermot Bannon to modernise it, and an asking price of €750,000.)

She wasn’t asked hard questions in that interview and, as far as I know, it was the last interview she gave. She certainly didn’t mention that she was in conversation with senior ministers about work she might do for Ireland in the US. I wonder what kind of an interview it would have been if Miriam knew then what she knows know.

Then suddenly it was announced, unknown to most of the Cabinet, that she was to be appointed as “special envoy on freedom of opinion and expression” to the UN. No advertisement, no competition, no interview. She wanted it and she got it.

…If it was needed, there should have been a competition for it [the UN envoy role]. We have a large number of men and women in Ireland who would have made excellent candidates. If she was the best, the competition would have established that.

The proof of her sense of entitlement, sadly, lies in the fact that she never gave a single interview about the controversy. This was compounded by the fact that, when the next controversy arose — about her party in the grounds of the Merrion Hotel — all she could do was issue a terse one-liner telling the media to contact the hotel….

Did her party comply with the guidelines? You’d have to be there to know (I wasn’t)…

Fergus Finlay: Ireland deserves better from arrogant Government ministers (Irish Examiner)

Earlier: Cash For Cronies

RollingNews


From top: Róisín Shortall.; Leo Varadkar and Katherine Zappone

Um.

This afternoon.

Further to Merriongate

…Social Democrats co leader Róisín Shortall writes:

“The government spent weeks in negotiations with the hospitality industry, about the rules that should apply to their businesses, but we now learn that everybody was working from a misplaced understanding of the law. Instead of the numbers for outdoor social gatherings being strictly curtailed, it is actually possible to host an event with up to 200 people. Curiously, this revelation was only made public after the Tánaiste himself attended a private function in a five-star hotel with 50 guests. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the government has sacrificed its own public health guidelines to save the Tánaiste’s political skin.

This grubby little episode suggests there is a prevalent attitude, among an elite in Irish society, that there is one rule for the little people and another for them. It is possible to host an event for scores of political insiders at a swanky hotel, but communions and confirmations are deemed too dangerous to proceed while wedding parties cannot exceed 100 guests – even if they are held outside.

“Questions also need to be asked about the public health implications of any revised guidelines. Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan has previously said that large groups of people, in close proximity outdoors, can facilitate the transmission of covid-19. If we now have a scenario in which events of up to 200 people can be held outdoors, what does this mean about the spread of the Delta variant through communities? Has Nphet been consulted about these new guidelines?

Ms Shortall added:

“…Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has yet to give an explanation as to how this role came about, the nature of the job, the precise details of the recruitment process and whether the position is now vacant or not.

“Mr Coveney has said “mistakes were made in how this appointment was brought about”, but he has yet to tell us what those mistakes were and how he plans to address them. The Minister must now answer these questions. There is no reason he cannot give that clarity today.”

Earlier: Merrion Haste, Repent At Leisure

RollingNews

Meanwhile…

Meanwhile…

From top: Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman; a meeting with Tuam survivor group cancelled

Lawyer and Tuam activist Kevin Higgins writes:

Former Minister for Children Zappone and current Minister for Children  O’Gorman will need to clarify in what capacity members of his Department attended Her Ladyship’s drink party when his office had cancelled – late in the evening just 48 hours earlier – meetings with survivor groups in Tuam (having sought them at short notice to begin with) and yet some of those expected at Tuam – and supposedly quarantining following an alleged outbreak of covid in the office – turned up at Katherine’s Party….

Eamon Ryan’s chief-of-staff and Department of Children secretary general both attended Katherine Zappone’s controversial party (Independent.ie)

Earlier: Merrion In Haste, Repent At Leisure

RollingNews

This afternoon.

“While I am honoured to have been appointed by the Government to be the Special Envoy on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, it is clear that criticism of the appointment process has impacted the legitimacy of the role itself.

“It is my conviction that a Special Envoy role can only be of real value to Ireland and to the global community if the appointment is acceptable to all parties.

“For this reason, I have decided not to accept this appointment, and I have communicated my decision to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.”

Katherine Zappone this afternoon.

Earlier: Well Now

RollingNews

This morning.

On RTÉ Radio One.

Adrian Cummins, CEO of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, was asked by presenter Philip Boucher Hayes if Katherine Zappone’s party at the Merrion Hotel, attended by Tanaiste Leo Varadkar, violated covid guidelines.

Philip Boucher Hayes: “Would you, on the 21st of July, have said ‘yes’ to an event that was being sought for 50 people outdoors that wasn’t non-social meeting, training or educational programme essential to the operation of a business. Would you have said yes to that?”

Adrian Cummins: “Well a critical question here is was there food and beverage at the event. And I don’t know because I wasn’t at it. So I suppose, a cup of tea or sparkling water or a sandwich or whatever was offered at that event, then to my opinion, it doesn’t matter where it is on the island of Republic of Ireland, that is an outdoor hospitality event. And I think that’s where we have to…get all the facts on the table. What was the event? There must be a function sheet. And exactly how many people attended and was there food and beverage offered at the event?”

Anyone?

Meanwhile…

Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy, a member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), at Leinster House this afternoon

This afternoon.

RollingNews

This afternoon.

Earlier…

Katherine Zappone hosted 50 people at a function in the Merrion Hotel, including Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, six days before Ms Zappone was appointed as a UN special envoy. The function contravened Fáilte Ireland guidelines for reopening hotels

This morning.

Via Independent.ie

Ms Zappone’s party in the luxury, five-star Dublin hotel was attended by friends, civil servants and politicians.

Around 50 guests were seated separately at tables of six in the Merrion Hotel’s Garden Terrace.

The Tánaiste attended the event prior to a meeting he held with Fine Gael senators on the same evening.

He told the meeting he had just come from an event hosted by their former government colleague Ms Zappone.

Good times.

Katherine Zappone hosted 50 friends including Tánaiste in five-star hotel before controversial appointment (Independent.ie)

Previously: The Land Of Nod And Wink

RollingNews

Update: