IRELAND
Irish Times
Patsy McGarry
Fri, Jan 23, 2015
A Dublin parish priest, rebuked by two Catholic archbishops last June for casting doubt on media reports that Fr Michael Cleary fathered children, has described their reaction “as disappointing to say the least”.
Fr Arthur O’Neill, administrator in Cabinteely, said Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin and the Catholic Primate Archbishop Eamon Martin reminded him of 1980s pop group the Housemartins.
“Their melodies and harmonies were always a mixture of populist politics and Christianity, which gave them lots of public appeal.” In his parish newsletter Fr O’Neill recalled his “real surprise” last year was “to read about myself on page one of The Irish Times ‘being rebuked’ by Archbishop Martin for daring to ask such a question.”
He said he had “simply asked what evidence was there at the time to allow so many journalists write with such certainty [about Fr Cleary].”
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