Maynooth has been mired in controversy since the 1980s
■ Your editorial (Irish
Independent, August 2) demands further explanation as to why Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin decided to no longer send seminarians to St Patrick’s College Maynooth.
St Patrick’s is a small institution with an ancient history but declining student numbers.
It has been mired in recurring controversy since the early 1980s, when Fr Gerard McGinnity PP, then a senior staff member, brought his concerns about college governance and those of aggrieved seminarians to the attention of the trustees and into the public domain. The opinion of the trustees at the time was articulated by Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich, who advised Fr McGinnity, when both were visiting Rome: “the bishops are gunning for you, Gerry.”
The priest promptly lost his job and was isolated. A cover-up ensued but Fr McGinnity and the complaining seminarians were eventually vindicated.
Twenty years later, in 2014, the Holy See published an evaluation of St Patrick’s and, reflecting the views of nine faculty members, criticised the college trustees, all bishops, for their “perceived disengagement from and apparent disinterest regarding the university’s mission”.
The same body of trustees recently granted the president of St Patrick’s sabbatical leave until 2017, coinciding with the remainder of his term as president but he is to continue to carry out many of his presidential duties during his sabbatical leave.
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin is clearly exasperated and has lost confidence in the fitness-for-purpose of St Patrick’s and the governing competence, leadership and credibility of its trustees.
The decisiveness of Archbishop Martin is compelling, proactive, plausible and very consistent with his robust style when dealing with clerical sexual abuse issues.
It is indeed time for the Primate of All Ireland and the trustees to publicly account for their stewardship of this institution, to account for the threat to its reputation and to be candid with the public about why this small college continues to be consistently mired in controversy throughout the tenure of its three most recent college presidents – who were picked by the bishops. Myles Duffy Glenageary, Co Dublin