Indoor gatherings where limited to 50 people at the time of the Apres gold celebratory dinner. I know, because my daughter's wedding was limited to 43 guests plus serving staff last week-end! Many close friends and relatives could not attend.

That said, Hogan claimed he had been assured by the organisers that the event was covid-19 regulations compliant. The function room was divided by a mobile partition which split the attendance into two groups of 40.

However the partition was removed for the speeches which meant it was in no way compliant. Hogan should have left the room at that point. The "partition" stunt is all to reminiscent of stunts pulled by politicians in the past, but it could be argued that it was the responsibility of the venue and event organisers to ensure regulations where complied with.

However I was prepared to defend Hogan's stance until it emerged he had also not self-isolated during his stay in Ireland prior to the Golf outing. That smacked to much of the political elite not regarding themselves as bound by the regulations effecting everyone else, including my daughter upset that many of her friends could not attend her wedding.

(For the record, my fater-of-the-bride speech was brilliant and delivered outdoors to an appreciative audience!(:-))

Index of Frank's Diaries