He attended the event earlier this week.

Dara Calleary has resigned as Minister for Agriculture after attending an event with 80 other people. The former minister attended the Oireachtas Golf Society event in a hotel in Connemara on Wednesday night, just 24 hours after the government announced new restrictions limiting at-home gatherings to six people and in-door gatherings to 50 people. A report in the Irish Examiner detailed that the event at Station House Hotel, Co Galway hosted 82 people at a sit-down function, with some tables holding 10 people. A spokesperson for the hotel told the Examiner that they were informed the event could go ahead if attendees were split between partitioned rooms. Calleary has since confirmed his resignation to RTÉ News. He issued an apology for attending the event last night, stating that he went to the function "having been asked to pay tribute to a person I respected and admired greatly." "In light of the updated public health guidance this week I should not have attended the event," he said. "I wish to apologise unreservedly to the public, from whom we are asking quite a lot at this difficult time. I also offer this apology and my sincere regret to my government colleagues.” Calleary was appointed Minister for Agriculture earlier this summer following the sacking of Barry Cowen. Cowen had received a drink driving ban four years previous.