The Irish Independent opined: "Were Louis the XIV around today, the Sun King would likely be envious of the lavish style that John O'Donoghue brought to public office".
[9] David Sharrock of The Times suggested the government was "close to collapse" and contrasted the expenses with a report that one school in Ireland had requested children to bring their own toilet paper to classes.
[15] He regularly attended horse racing sessions and even brought his wife, secretary and other officials to the Melbourne Cup in Australia in 2003.
[16] The controversy is the subject of a book Snouts in the Trough by journalist Ken Foxe, who originally broke the story in the Sunday Tribune.
[17] He made his first public comments on his expenses on 15 September 2009 whilst attending the races in Listowel, claiming to have "behaved in good faith and with probity throughout" and ending with "in so far as one regrets something, I think that is an apology".
[18] The following day, O'Donoghue made a proper public apology for his expenses claimed while in office as Irish Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism.
[20] Sinn Féin were the first party to call for O'Donoughue to resign, with Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin stating O'Donoghues position was untenable given "a continued waste of public money" since he took the job.
[24] He announced details of his resignation as Ceann Comhairle at 22:30 the following evening after pressure from Gilmore, who said his reign was now "untenable", backed by Kenny.
Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, at a book signing in Belfast to promote the release of his autobiography, expressed his sorrow for O'Donoghue.
[34] Irish Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan Jnr criticised the forceful nature of O'Donoghue's resignation, claiming he had not been allowed to explain himself.
[5] Irish Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism Martin Cullen accused the media of having "extremely distorted" the expenses claims.
[36] He also claimed he would prefer to spend Saint Patrick's Day at home "rather than attending 24 functions in 48 hours" as was the case in 2009, according to Cullen.
Deputy Jackie Healy-Rae said on Radio Kerry: This is a sad situation to see John O'Donoghue go like this [...] The man was hounded out of office, there's no doubt about it.
[39]Mayor of Kilkenny, Malcolm Noonan of the Green Party, reacted positively to O'Donoghue's resignation, saying "Oireachtas members are well paid for their work, there should be absolutely no abuse of the system" particularly whilst "so many people and communities are suffering".
Further revelations were also disclosed, including €1,000 spent on two tickets for the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final in Paris, despite O'Donoghue being Ceann Comhairle at that time and no longer Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism.