Sorry Archbishop, but the new Ireland is here to stay

IS Archbishop Diarmuid Martin losing his magic touch – especially when it comes to the media? Since being appointed Archbishop of Dublin in 2003, he has only made three major mistakes in my book – the latest being this week by his untypical over-the-top reaction to the fact that a parishioner in Mount Merrion in south Dublin helped out by leading prayers from the altar in the absence of a priest.

The fact that the parishioner, Josepha Madigan, happened to be a Government Minister who openly supports – as so many do – the ordination of women, seemed to have annoyed the Dublin prelate no end.

His response was so over-the-top that you might attribute the rush of blood to the head to the sweltering temperatures, but having lived in Rome for so long Archbishop Diarmuid Martin is well used to oppressive heat.

It is worth remembering that the main reason the Archbishop is so well regarded nationally is because of his open, contrite and transparent attitude to clerical sexual abuse, especially in the Dublin diocese.

Remember, such was the opprobrium generated by his predecessor Cardinal Desmond Connell over his disastrous and, at times, dishonest treatment of allegations against his clerics that when he died in 2017 his funeral was marked by the almost total absence of State representation – an unprecedented occurrence for a prince of the Irish Catholic Church.

Two years after Diarmuid Martin became Archbishop, Pope John Paul II died in Rome. For some rea- son, the Dublin Diocese decided to organise a ‘sunset service of remembrance’ in the Phoenix Park on the day the Pope was being buried in Rome. The Archbishop sent personal letters to a number of people asking them to participate – including myself.

The turnout was dismal and, to the surprise of many, Diarmuid Martin did not appear. Yes, he was in Rome that morning – as was the taoiseach Bertie Ahern who did manage to make it to the Papal Cross in good time.

The whole event and then nonappearance was a major public relations misstep by the surefooted Archbishop. I remember being surprised at his no-show. But I was even more surprised during the centenary of the 1916 Rising, when at a number of keynote events the leader of the Catholic Church in Dublin studiously avoided mentioning the civilians killed in the Easter Rising.

But then a search through previous speeches by the Archbishop on the Rising reveals that while he talks movingly of the sacrifices made by women, especially the mothers of the proclamation signatories, he did not mention any of the 54 female civilians killed, or the over 200 men, including 40 children who perished in Easter Week – most of them Catholics.

It was left to the Church Of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin Michael Jackson to mention the civilian deaths, and the then Chaplain to the Defence Forces Monsignor Eoin Thynne never forgot to mention the child deaths in his many homilies that year.

No doubt the visit next month by Pope Francis will give the Catholic Church a temporary boost, but this year will be marked by the further secularisation of Ireland – which, as the negative reaction to the Archbishop’s words this week shows, is now unstoppable.