Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

None of my staff went to the Merrion. I can honestly say I did not even know the Merrion event was going on. I knew Katherine Zappone was in Dublin because I asked the Secretary General to speak to her about the terms and conditions as we wanted to try to finalise them before I brought the recommendation to Cabinet. I knew she was in Dublin. I was in Africa. I was in Kenya and Somalia at the time of the Merrion event. I was not thinking about it. Katherine Zappone texted me but it was a banner freeze-frame of the event, if you like. There was no formal request to me to attend. To be honest, I kind of ignored it. I did not focus on it. The event happened and obviously became highly controversial afterwards.