Cardinal’s idea of personal loyalty is misplaced

WHERE did Cardinal Brady look for inspiration when he declared in Killarney that Bishop Magee should remain in his see?

There are several recent role model examples in Ireland where public confidence and trust in the holder of a public office has been so impaired or totally compromised that he could have referenced.

The chairman and the directors of Fás and the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority, for example, made no such interventions on behalf of the departing chief executives of those bodies when their positions became untenable.

The 1,800 staff of Anglo Irish Bank never held any public demonstrations to assert confidence in or celebrate the esteem of their former chairman. The parishioners of Cloyne have likewise been silent and restrained.

Perhaps the cardinal might have reflected on the case involving DCC after that company lost a Supreme Court case last year involving the insider dealing of shares.

The board of that company did advocate that the former chief executive remain in tenure but the Irish Association of Investment Managers subsequently countermanded that stance and the chief executive eventually left his post.

This is not a feudal society and public sentiment cannot be ignored. The conduct of a civilised society demands that it is governed by effective independent checks and balances and not by the whims of myopic patronage.

When confidence or trust in the incumbent of a public office is impaired the holder of the office vacates that position quickly, even if a law has not been transgressed. That is done as an expression of accountability and trust.

Why should the Catholic Church set a precedent to contravene this established principle, especially when the issue involves child sex abuse?

Cardinal Brady’s notion of personal loyalty is grossly misplaced. He might reflect carefully on his own reputation and the level of public confidence in him.

Will the public trust his judgment, pronouncements and priorities in future? He has gambled with the institutional reputation of the church in his advocacy of Bishop Magee.

Myles Duffy

Bellevue Ave

Glenageary

Co Dublin