Fri. Nov 18th, 2022

The Taoiseach is to meet all party leaders this afternoon to discuss a stand-off in the Supreme Court over the position of Justice Seamus Woulfe. 
Micheal Martin has said the meeting will seek to agree a collective approach to the issue which has arisen as a result of Justice Woulfe’s attendance at an Oireachtas Golf Society event in August. 
The leaders of the three Government parties met the Attorney General, Paul Gallagher, last night to discuss the situation.
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee also attended the meeting.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has told the Dáil he would like to seek consensus on how to deal with the crisis in the Supreme Court. 
Correspondence released at the start of the week showed that Chief Justice Frank Clarke had told Justice Woulfe he should resign. 
Following that, Opposition parties had called for the issue to be addressed by the Oireachtas – with some going as far as questioning whether his position was tenable 
However there has been a change of tone as the week progressed, with all parties stepping back before deciding a way forward,  
Party leaders will meet Mr Martin and are likely to seek more information on the Attorney General’s advice on the matter. 
Sinn Féin has said it is keeping an open mind as to how to proceed from there, while Rise TD Paul Murphy, who is willing to table a Dáil motion on the issue, said he will wait to hear what the Taoiseach has to say. 
Parties will have to consider whether Justice Woulfe’s actions meet the threshold of stated misbehaviour that is required under the Constitution to initiate a process to remove a judge.  
There is also an acceptance that this is something they would have to be certain of before taking any steps that could change the relationship between politicians and the judiciary into the future.