People pull no punches over prelate

IF people power existed in the Catholic Church, the fate of Cardinal Desmond Connell as the most senior figure in the Irish hierarchy would already be sealed.

Locals in the cardinal’s backyard of Drumcondra overwhelmingly called for his resignation yesterday over his handling of child sex abuse scandals involving paedophile priests.

A large majority of people questioned by the Irish Examiner within a quarter mile of the Archbishop’s House on Lower Drumcondra Road were critical of the cardinal’s failure to report members of the clergy to the civic authorities.

Surprisingly, for once, nobody criticised the media’s role in placing Dr Connell and the role of the Catholic Church under the spotlight.

Irrespective of a person’s age, gender or religion, Drumcondra citizens were almost unanimous in calling for Dr Connell to consider his position.

“He should resign. It’s obvious he has been involved in a cover-up,” said pensioner Vincent O’Neill.

Rosaleen Murphy originally from Kildare but studying at St Patrick’s College agreed: “The Cardinal should go. He was in the wrong. It’s as simple as that.”

Mother-of-two Miriam Buckley from Carlingford Road also believed the cardinal had little option but to resign because of his “arrogance”: “He is as guilty as the men who did the abuse. I think it is disgusting. It’s a pity that people have lost confidence in the whole institution of the Church and it’s a shame that some really good priests have all got tarred with the same brush.”

Businessman P.J. Dunne described the latest controversy over the abuse of children by priests as “a bloody scandal”: “The Cardinal should resign because we’ve had to listen to denial after denial by the church. He seems only willing to admit his share of the blame after priests have been found out.”

Even a nun from a local convent declined the opportunity to voice support for her beleaguered religious superior. “I have no opinion on the matter,” she said bluntly.

Local shop worker Pauline Byrne also felt Dr Connell had handled the issue of paedophile priests badly: “The bishops are preaching to all of us to be good Catholics and yet they seem to defend their own priests rather than their victims.”

However, one local woman, who asked not to be named, was alone in voicing support for Dr Connell to continue in office: “What he needs is a lot of prayers from Joe Soaps like me. Things are bad in society in general, not just the Church.”

“The cardinal could have done better,” she admitted. “However, nobody is perfect.”

She also pointed out that another famous Drumcondra citizen was at least as unpopular at the moment as Dr Connell.

“If you’re talking about resignation,” she said. “I think many people would prefer to see Bertie Ahern go before the cardinal.”