Ex-archbishop sues RTÉ over paedophile claim

A Catholic archbishop who resigned after breaking his vow of celibacy has sued RTÉ for defamation, alleging he was wrongly depicted as a paedophile in the 2011 Prime Time Investigates programme, ‘Mission to Prey’.

Tipperary-born Richard Burke, now aged 66, had intimate sexual relations with Dolores Atwood, who featured on the RTÉ programme, but not when she was underage, his counsel Jack Fitzgerald said.

Mr Burke “is not a paedophile” and has never in his life ever molested a child, Mr Fitzgerald told a High Court jury yesterday.