Priest: My four-and-a-half years of hell are over

A country curate yesterday recalled how the support of parishioners and friends helped him get through dark and lonely days when false allegations of abuse made his life hell.

Fr Liam O’Brien, in his early 60s, is a typical footsoldier of the Catholic Church. Like thousands of other priests, he quietly goes about his daily business of ministering to the faithful.

Greying and bespectacled, though hardly looking his years, he shuns the limelight and works without fuss or fanfare.