The old boys’ club is alive and well

The Golfgate controversy lifted the lid on yet another layer of gender bias in the Oireachtas

Mary Lou McDonald, the Sinn Féin leader, and, left, Louise O’Reilly, Sinn Féin TD: McDonald criticised the existence of the male-dominated Oireachtas Golf Society which she says she had never heard of before Golfgate. Photo: Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie

One of the most striking features of what has become known as the Golfgate controversy, beyond the flouting of the Covid-19 restrictions by some of the most senior office-holders in the country, is the very existence of an Oireachtas Golf Society in the first place.

In the wake of the revelations, Mary Lou McDonald, the Sinn Féin leader, said she had never heard of the club. This statement is very revealing: a senior female politician, ...