Church pays the price for its history of sectarianism and blind arrogance

THE pub culture has been changing in this country in recent years. The drift from the bars is matched only by the drop in vocations and the attendances at Sunday mass, which can probably be attributed largely to the culpable arrogance of prominent church people.

Mercier Press published Pat Walsh’s book, The Curious Case of the Mayo Librarian, this week. It is a timely reminder of the controversy surrounding the appointment of Letitia Dunbar Harrison as Mayo county librarian in 1930. While we have never been slow to criticise the Orangemen in the North for their sectarianism, we have been conveniently blind to our own failings.

Dean Edward D’Alton of Ballinrobe denounced the Local Appointments Commission’s selection because Ms Dunbar Harrison was a Protestant and a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin (TCD).