Priest outraged at ‘spoof supper’

A PUBLICAN criticised by a priest for using a ‘blasphemous’ caricature of a famous religious painting to advertise his premises has described it as a “harmless bit of fun’’.

A mini holy war has flared following the appearance of an ad for the Osborne bar, Edward Street, Tralee, Co Kerry, in a local publication.

In a send-up of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, Jesus Christ appears as a braying horse and the ‘apostles’ include Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Bono, George Bush, Elvis Presley, Tony Blair and Kerry football manager Páidí Ó Sé.

Father Placid Nolan of the Dominican Order, Tralee, described the ad as blasphemous and insulting to Catholics. He called for a public apology from the bar owners and the publishers of ‘i on Tralee’ in which it appeared.

“This is very offensive to practising Catholics when the Eucharist is at the centre of their religion,’’ he said.

But, John Wynne, who runs the Osborne with girlfriend Anita O’Donnell, maintained the ad was a lampoon of a well-known Renaissance painting and nothing else.

“I’m a Catholic myself and I don’t see why anyone should take offence. It certainly wasn’t intended to hurt anybody and I didn’t expect this kind of reaction,’’ he added, denying the affair was a publicity gimmick.

“In fact,’’ he went on, “I’m slagging myself in the ad. My nickname is Horse and my girl friend’s nickname is Chicken. There’s a chicken on the horse’s left in the ad. It’s merely a dig at ourselves and world leaders, as well as other saints and sinners.’’

Asked how customers were reacting to the controversy, Mr Wynne said they understood the ad and his bar was busier than ever. He did not see any reason to apologise for a harmless bit of fun.

Neither did Kerry Leane, of the free weekly ‘i on Tralee’, think he should apologise for something done in jest.

“I would apologise if I felt I did something wrong, but, in my opinion, there was nothing wrong with it,’’ he said.

Mr Leane claimed the incident was blown out of all proportion. They had spent a few hours designing the ad, which was a one-off.

He said six people who did not like the ad had telephoned.

“One woman was screaming down the line at me and told me I would rot in Hell for all eternity. The answer I gave her was that was very un-Christian.”