Man tells why he cut down Papal Cross

October 1980

A man admitted this week to cutting down the Papal Cross in Tagoat, but he said local people hadn’t permission to erect it in the first instance.

The cross is now standing again, but the controversy rages on. The man who removed it said he was assaulted last week as a group of other men arrived to re-erect it.

Mr Thomas Redmond, Bush, Tagoat, says he owns the piece of land on which the cross was erected – a small green patch just off the Wexford/Rosslare Harbour road.

Mr Redmond is building a guesthouse in Tagoat, and says he bought the land to build on – including the area where the cross went up – from local shopkeeper, Mr John Collier.

He said this week that the cross – put there by the local Community Council in September of last year, to commemorate the Pope’s visit to Ireland – obscured the view of his new guesthouse and that it was not a suitable size for the site.

And he added that the site would be much more suitable for a different type of development, and he would be more than happy to co-operate with the Council in providing such a development.

Mr Redmond said he agreed to buy the land from Mr John Collier in May of last year, but as the sale was not finalised until after Mr Redmond had obtained planning permission for his guesthouse, it was January of this year before he knew it would be proceeding.

But in the meantime, a cross was erected at the time of the Pope’s visit. Mr Redmond said that Mr Collier had not given permission for its erection, but neither Mr Redmond nor Mr Collier had objected to it.

This was because they had been assured it was only a temporary structure and that it would be removed after the Pope’s visit had ended.

However, the Tagoat Community Council decided to leave the cross where it was. It didn’t interfere with the work on the guesthouse, which proceeded for six months.

Mr Redmond said this week that he then approached local Parish Priest, Fr Patrick Browne, and told him that he intended to have the cross removed. He also wanted to know what the Council wanted to do with the cross. He asked Fr Browne to convey the message to the Council.

Four days after talking to Fr Browne, Mr Redmond removed the cross himself and left it on the site, so that the Council could decide what they wanted to do with it. His argument was that the cross was not there when he bought the property.

Mr Redmond said he removed the cross on a Saturday morning and at least fifteen people passed him or were present when he did it. He said he had given adequate notice of his intention to do so, and the Council was aware of his intention.

And he added that he was then amazed to hear that the Council had lodged an application with Wexford County Council, claiming malicious damage by persons unknown.