Ivan Yates, the former Fine Gael TD and retired broadcaster, has criticised the so-called 'Merriongate' gathering for illustrating the "double standards" in Irish politics.
Controversy erupted after the news emerged that former children’s minister Katherine Zappone had hosted an event for 50 guests at the Merrion Hotel in Dublin in July.
The garden party, attended by Tanaiste Leo Varadkar, caused a political storm and led to a clarification of pandemic rules around outdoor hospitality.
It resulted in Ms Zappone stepping back from the role of UN special envoy on freedom of opinion and expression just six days before her appointment.
Speaking about the controversy on Wednesday, Ivan Yates said the fall-out from the gathering at the Merrion Hotel shows the "double standards" at play in politics after Phil Hogan resigned as EU Commissioner following 'Golfgate' last year.
Mr Yates said Mr Hogan may not have needed to step down from the role if he had handled the fall-out of the situation differently.
"Instead of doing one or two drip-drip interviews… he should have done a big press conference. He should have said ‘I got a test, and I genuinely believed I could go where I liked’," he told Pat Kenny on Newstalk.
"If you leave unanswered questions, the six-day media cycle actually requires a head at the end of it.
“Irrespective of dealing with the media, you’ve got to get your boss on side. You come clean with them, and you say ‘do I have your support or not?’ You can’t leave that to chance.”
While some attendees at Golfgate said they had checked with the Clifden hotel to ensure it was Covid compliant, they still resigned or stepped down from their positions.
Mr Yates said this is the same "defence" Mr Varadkar made over this attendance at Merriongate, which shows "a real difference of double standards here", according to him.
"In the very same set of circumstances, it really is a case of who makes the offence and what power they have," he said.
“With Golfgate, there were other people - like Seamus Woulfe and Brian Hayes - who did survive. Not everyone... went under a bus."
The former broadcaster also revealed on Wednesday that he would be following a new career path after life in politics and the media.
The Wexford native has launched his own ‘Media Masterclass' which will aim to help people appearing in the press or on TV and radio to navigate interviews.
