I think I’m in a minority for thinking that the Irish judiciary have handled the Woulfe controversy well. The ad hoc process is equivalent to what happens in formal judicial discipline systems in similar circumstances, and publication of the report was the right call 1/4 https://twitter.com/Orlaodo/status/1313361368448458753">https://twitter.com/Orlaodo/s...

Woulfe has not come out of the process well - at best, he’s demonstrated a serious lack of humility. But judges are - for good reasons - not accountable to public opinion in the same ways politicians are. I very much doubt a formal process would have resulted in his dismissal 2/4

But if Woulfe is unwilling to accept whatever consequence has been proposed (likely a public reprimand by the CJ) there is no clear route out of the problem. In the absence of a formal system he can really only be disciplined with his consent 3/4

But a good judge would have given this consent. Ironically his conduct in relation to the informal process raises more pertinent questions about his suitability for the Supreme Court bench than did his attendance at #golfgate in the first place 4/4