Clifden is known as the capital of Connemara, a famous beauty spot on the Wild Atlantic Way that would have been holding what is the highlight of its summer season this weekend, its famous Connemara Pony Show.
The surrounding area is a place when politicians and the powerful come at this time of year to get away from it all. But a dinner of the Oireachtas Golf Society in the Station House Hotel on Wednesday night has convulsed the Irish political system, with the crisis now spreading to the heart of EU decision making in Brussels.
After the EU Commissioner, Phil Hogan, apologised for his attendance, the Taoiseach and Tánaiste took a major decision to escalate the issue on Saturday night by releasing a joint statement urging him to