Barbecue at McKee barracks during Covid restrictions ‘not appropriate’

Up to 100 people were interviewed during an internal military investigation into a social event at a Dublin barracks during Covid-19 restrictions and the alleged assault of a female soldier.

Minister for Defence Simon Coveney has asked senior counsel Hugh Mohan to carry out an external review into the event at the Defence Forces' Covid Taskforce headquarters at McKee barracks in June 2020, which sources said was attended by dozens of people.

An internal investigation found that the barbecue, during which a drunken male officer allegedly groped a female subordinate, did not breach Covid-19 protocols but that it was not appropriate in the context of the social restrictions in place at that time.