Bishop of Waterford accuses Labour TD of 'almost inciting hatred' on schools patronage issue
Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, Alphonsus Cullinan, wrote a letter to Labour leader Alan Kelly over comments made by Aodhán Ó Ríordáin at the Labour Party conference earlier this month.
The Bishop of Waterford and Lismore has accused a Labour Party TD of "almost inciting hatred" for suggesting religious patronage should be removed from schools.
A letter from Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan addressed to Labour Party leader Alan Kelly, and seen by the , notes that Labour Party education spokesperson Aodhán Ó Ríordáin was "adamant" during the Labour Party conference earlier this month that religious patronage from schools "should be gotten rid of".
"His motives were very clear and there seems to have been sustained applause from the delegates," the letter states.
"Mr Ó Ríordáin's attitude seems to be one of almost inciting hatred and I would suspect that many reasonable people were very shocked.
"I was wondering is this the official attitude of the Labour Party to religious run schools?
"Does Mr Ó Ríordáin realise that our schools are generally working extremely well?" the letter states, adding that "the schools are most inclusive".
During the Labour Party conference, Mr Ó Ríordáin said that Catholic patronage should be removed from schools in light of the mother and baby homes and other church scandals, adding: “If that requires a referendum we should do it, let's fight that referendum and win that referendum."
The speech has been shared in a number of Catholic-focused outlets and social media channels in the weeks following the conference, some of which misquoted Mr Ó Ríordáin leading him to believe this is what may have sparked the bishop's letter.
The Dublin Bay North TD says he has never had any contact with the bishop but would be open to a debate on the topic.
"I don't know if the bishop actually saw my contribution, but it's nothing I haven't said before or hasn't been said before in the public or political arena about separation of church and State, there has been reporting recently that I isolated one faith group in my comments and I didn't," he told the .
"Any self-respecting social democrat would advocate for a separation for church and State on education.
"We had come from an emotional debate on the Magdalene laundries and mother and baby homes before my comments and its very clear to me that religious influence over education needs to end.
"The church must be taken out of education. It is ridiculous for the archbishop not to engage with me, but my superior, the leader of the Labour Party, rather than discuss my comments with me.
"I've never received any letter from him before on poverty, homelessness, education or drug addiction issues but this is one he decided to get excited about."
Mr Ó Ríordáin added that the bishop "didn't even spell my name correctly."
