Fahey: No need for Bishop of Galway to resign

A FORMER Government minister has said there is no need for the Bishop of Galway to resign in the wake of the Murphy Report.

Fianna Fáil TD for Galway West Frank Fahey said the message he is getting from constituents is that Bishop Martin Drennan should stay on.

Bishop Drennan has robustly defended his time as an auxiliary bishop in Dublin since publication of the report which found he had dealt appropriately with the only abuse case of which he was informed.

Following an interview on Galway Bay FM at the weekend, 93% of callers to the radio programme supported Bishop Drennan’s stance.

Mr Fahey said, from evidence produced to date, Bishop Drennan’s role during his time in Dublin did not suggest he should resign. “If he is being called on to resign because of guilt by association then I don’t think that is good enough and I’ve had an overwhelming response from people that I meet supporting him and that he should remain on as Bishop of Galway.”

Mr Fahey also said Bishop Drennan had the confidence of the priests in Galway and “we must also take cognisance of the fact that we have parishes around Galway that don’t have priests to serve the Catholics now and the good priests that are still in this diocese, who have done nothing wrong, should be supported”.

Separately the country’s bishops have been asked to supply details of any additional allegations of clerical sexual abuse received in the wake of the publication of the Murphy Report.

The request is outlined in a letter by the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the bishops have until January 8 to respond.

The letter, from Phil Garland, the HSE’s assistant national director for children and family social services, also requires the Church to ensure any data it provides can be independently verified against State records.

In addition, it requests the name and location of where the matter was reported to the health service and the Garda, and the date the report was made.

The letter, part of the HSE’s ongoing audit of child protection practices in Catholic dioceses and religious congregations, also asks bishops to “revise your audit to include all additional allegations known to your diocese”. The audit aims to ensure the HSE is aware of all cases of clerical child sex abuse known to the Church, including the whereabouts of alleged perpetrators.