Church demands apology from D’Arcy

The Catholic Communications Office is to refer a complaint about a popular radio presenter to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland if it fails to get a full apology today for his “grossly offensive” statement about the Catholic Church.

Ray D’Arcy from Today FM, who describes himself as an atheist, told listeners on Friday that “the Catholic Church, in many ways, had fucked up this country” during a review of the newspapers.

Mr D’Arcy had been commenting on a newspaper report about the Dáil debate on a bill brought forward by Socialist Party TD Clare Daly to legislate for the X case and allow abortion in cases where the mother’s health was in doubt.