The Taoiseach, Tánaiste and leader of the Green Party have said Phil Hogan's decision to resign as European Trade Commissioner was the the "correct course of action given the circumstances of the past week."

Phil Hogan has said he has resigned from his role as EU Commssioner because controversy over his travel in Ireland during the Covid-19 restrictions was "a distraction" and would have undermined his work in the coming months.

In a joint statement, Micheál Martin, Leo Varadkar and Eamon Ryan acknowledged Mr Hogan's resignation and said while it must have been a difficult decision personally, they believe it was the correct course of action.

Speaking to RTÉ News, Mr Martin said that Mr Hogan has "has "served Europe and Ireland with distinction"

The Taoiseach reiterated that everyone has a responsibility to adhere to public health guidelines. 

The European Commission President has thanked Mr Hogan for his "tireless work" since he began his time in Brussels.

"I am very grateful to him for his tireless work as a Trade Commissioner since the start of this mandate and for his successful term as Commissioner in charge of Agriculture in the previous College," Ursula von der Leyen said.

Sinn Féin has said that Phil Hogan "made the correct decision" in resigning tonight.

The party's spokesperson on public expenditure and reform spokesperson, Mairéad Farrell, said the controversy has "had a huge impact on public confidence in politics".

In relation to the impact of Mr Hogan's resignation on the Brexit process, Ms Farrell said that "Brexit is larger than any one person and we are lucky that we have political consensus on this matter".

The Labour leader has welcomed the "overdue" resignation of Phil Hogan as European Trade Commissioner.

In a statement, Alan Kelly said the decision "is five days overdue and has resulted in enormous damage to our effort to tackle Covid-19".

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Mr Kelly said: "It was clear from a very early stage that he had to go, such was the level of public anger at the flagrant breach of Covid-19 regulations at the Oireachtas golf event and non-compliance with the 14-day isolation period.

The Labour leader said the Government must "move quickly to fill the vacancy" that arises in the EU Commission at what he described as "a critical moment for Ireland".

Rise TD Paul Murphy has said that Phil Hogan "absolutely had to" resign. 

Mr Murphy said that he does not think this will be the end of the "GolfGate saga" and that the attention will now turn "more sharply" to Supreme Court Judge Seamus Woulfe and others who attended the event. 

Solidarity-People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said it is right that Phil Hogan has resigned his position.

"You cannot have a situation where the political elite have one set of rules applying to them and then all the people in the country, who have made huge sacrifices and endured huge hardship, have another set of rules applying to them."

Mr Boyd Barrett also called for the resignation of Mr Justice Seamus Woulfe and an inquiry into the Oireachtas event in Clifden.