Priests and the laity move to reform the Catholic Church in Ireland
An umbrella group is to be formed to represent laity interested in reforming the Catholic Church in Ireland.
Two meetings to step up reform planned for this week
Reports state that a meeting will be held in Dublin on Wednesday night to discuss the formation of the group.
The proposal is a follow-on from a meeting attended by over 1,000 Catholic laity, priests and nuns three weeks ago which called for dialogue in the Irish church.
The proposal is a follow-on from a meeting attended by over 1,000 Catholic laity, priests and nuns three weeks ago which called for dialogue in the Irish church.
Noel McCann, one of the organisers of Wednesday’s meeting, told the paper: “We feel that an umbrella organisation will bring greater focus and cohesion to the ‘lay voice’ calling for dialogue.
“Our aim would be to establish the organisation in the mainstream, and with the moral authority coming from a significant membership so that it can become relevant to the debate on the future reform and renewal of our church.
“The intention is to discuss the options with representatives of existing groups and interested individuals at next Wednesday’s meeting, which will, hopefully, be the start of a vibrant new lay organisation which will give a real voice to those who currently feel excluded from any form of meaningful dialogue in our church.”
More information is available by contacting Noel by email at nsmccann@eircom.net.
The Association of Catholic Priests is also planning a meeting in Mayo on Wednesday night according to the paper when it will discuss plans to set up regional events similar to the recent one in Dublin. The group now has 900 priests as members.
In a statement on the ACP website, Fr Brendan Hoban emphasised: “We do not seek to overturn the defined teaching of the Catholic Church.
“ACP wants to have a conversation about the realities of Irish church life today and about issues we believe the Irish church urgently needs to discuss.
“ACP is no threat to the unity of the church. We cherish and we value and we wish to further the unity of all our people, with our fellow clergy, with religious, with our bishops and with the successor of Peter.
“We have a right and a duty to discuss the problems facing the church. Silencing us will not make the issues go away. It will only create more unhappiness, and damage the unity of the church.
“Freedom of conscience is a fundamental Christian teaching; it is not a strange or frightening concept. The word ‘dissident’ does not describe us. We are at the heart of our church, and that is where we wish to stay. So, please, work with us; talk with us; pray with us.”
Four people still in hospital after Cavan car rally crash
Gardai on the scene of yesterday?s crash in Cavan in which a Ford Escort crashed into a group of spectators, killing two.
Four people remain in hospital today after two spectators were killed and seven others injured after a car taking part in a rally in Co Cavan went out of control.
The man who died was named locally as Joe Lane (51), a photographer from Galway. The woman, Caroline Cleary (29), from Inniskeen, Co Cork, was there with her partner, who is a rally driver.
Five other people were taken to Cavan hospital with injuries along with the driver of the car and his co-driver.
The Health Service Executive declined to provide details of their injuries, though some are believed to be serious.
Gardaí and Motorsport Ireland, the governing body for the sport, have launched separate investigations.
They are likely to focus on issues such as why the car went out of control and the marshalling of the race.
Gardaí have asked anyone in the vicinity of the crash to contact them as part of their investigation.
The crash occurred at 11.10am on stage one of the Cavan Motor Club special stages rally, shortly after the three-stage race had begun.
Eyewitnesses said the car, a Mark II Escort, became airborne after driving over a hump in the road at high speed.
As it landed, it appeared to go out of control and crashed into a fence outside a house near Bailieborough, where spectators were standing.
John Fisher, who was further up the road and witnessed the incident with his nine-year-old grandson, said the spectators were well back from the road side.
“There was a bank behind them. Once the car hit that fence they hadn’t a hope,” he said.
Another onlooker, who declined to be named, described the scene following the crash.
“It was harrowing: bodies were strewn all over the place. A lot of carnage. From what I could see there were two fatalities. Maybe eight injured, one seriously.
“There were seven or eight ambulances on the scene shortly afterwards,” he said.
Brian McEnroe, one of 180 volunteer race marshals who attended on the day from clubs all over the country, said he was shocked. “There has to be a serious shake-up with the clubs and the marshals,” he said.
Cavan Motor Club expressed deep regret at the incident. “At this time all our energy is focused on the families of those involved in this tragic accident,” club secretary Jim Reilly said.
“The relevant authorities were immediately advised of the incident and the rally rescue services attended the scene. An investigation has begun into all facts surrounding the accident.”
He said all marshals were trained and experienced in the positions they were allocated and were directed by sector marshals. He said all the procedures were in place and there were signs, tapes and no-go areas.
Mr Reilly could not say whether the area where the injured spectators were standing was within a no-go area.
Garda Supt Gerry O’Brien said the Garda helicopter had been dispatched to take aerial photographs of the scene.
Forensic investigators had attended and the car had been removed for technical examination.
“Where they were standing, one would assume they would have been safe, in the front garden of a private house,” Supt O’Brien said. “It all happened in seconds; they didn’t have a chance to run.”
More than 100 cars from all over Ireland were involved in the rally, a yearly event organised by the club. It was cancelled immediately after the crash occurred.
Joan Burton plans to tax child benefit
For Ireland’s €100,000 rich earners
The Social Protection Minister has confirmed that she wants to tax child benefit for rich families.
Joan Burton said that rather then means-testing child benefit for all parents, she would prefer to tax child benefit for all those with children earning more than €100,000. It is understood the Department of Social Protection and the Revenue Commissioners recently initiated a full exchange of data that will allow Minister Burton to introduce the measure in the next budget.Fiscal Treaty ‘a safety net’ for future funding for Ireland says Eamon Gilmore?
The European fiscal treaty is a “safety net” which would provide Ireland with an insurance policy for future emergency funding, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has stated.
“This is an important and necessary step on the road to recovery. This is about having a stable euro, it is about having confidence for investors to create jobs here, and it is about making sure this country has access to emergency funding if we need it,” he said yesterday. He was campaigning in Dublin.
However, he said the treaty could not on its own deliver economic recovery.
“We’ve always said that other things are necessary to bring about economic recovery and that is why we welcomed the meeting last Wednesday, the European summit, which has moved the discussion on to talking about growth and investment and jobs. This treaty is a necessary measure, it is not the only measure required.”
Mr Gilmore criticised the decision of Independent TD Shane Ross to call for a No vote, but said he didn’t think his intervention would bolster the anti-treaty campaign.
“I think he has remained on the fence for so long that I think announcing a decision at this stage is less than credible for somebody who is in public life and should be providing leadership.”
Both sides in the fiscal treaty debate have again strongly disputed their opponents’ claims in the continuing row over Ireland’s access to emergency funding.
Access to European Stability Mechanism funds in the event of a No vote has been the dominant issue over the past three weeks of the campaign.
The latest row over access to the funds followed assertions made this weekend by Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams that ESM funding would be provided even if the treaty was rejected by the electorate. Mr Adams made the claim during his ardfheis address to his party and then repeated it in several interviews yesterday.
Referring to the separate ESM treaty (which does not have to be ratified by referendum because it does not touch on Ireland’s sovereignty) Mr Adams said yesterday: “It says that funding will be available when it’s indispensable for the stability of the euro zone.”
However, the contention was challenged by Fianna Fáil director of elections Timmy Dooley yesterday. He said Sinn Féin, in making that claim, was only “telling half the story to people” and claimed it was a bid to deliberately confuse and mislead people.
Mr Dooley said that if one continued to read the ESM treaty, it has made clear that availability of the funds is subject to “strict conditionality”.
“The next page of the ESM treaty then sets out the strict conditions. It states that ‘the granting of financial assistance will be conditional on the ratification of the fiscal treaty’.
“Sinn Féin has form in misrepresenting basic facts, having been caught misquoting a series of leading economists in their campaign literature. But this is even more serious as Gerry Adams is clearly misleading citizens and creating confusion where there doesn’t need to be,” he said.
Last night the transport union TSSA urged its 1,500 members in the Republic of Ireland to vote “No” in the referendum.
Its general secretary Manuel Cortes said the referendum provided an opportunity for people to say No to never-ending recession, unrelenting unemployment and a continued attack on public services.
Separately Labour TD Aodhán Ó Riordáin argued it was irresponsible for public sector unions to urge No votes when their members’ pay will be put at risk by being locked out of the ESM.
“It is only by borrowing that we can hold onto the Croke Park agreement,” he said.
Finner Camp Donegal Army Forces and the Air Corps fight forest fires near Glengesh
The Defence Forces deployed an Air Corps helicopter to assist efforts to fight forest fires in Donegal yesterday.
Troops based in Finner Camp, Co Donegal, were also placed on standby to assist with some elements being recalled to barracks. An Air Corps AW 139 helicopter fitted with a specialist under-slung bucket dropped water on fires near Glengesh in south Donegal.
The helicopter dropped a total of 21,000 litres of water in 17 sorties on the fires and in a statement the Defence Forces said the operations have “been successful in containing the spread of the fire”.
Gardaí in Co Kerry are investigating a blaze which destroyed rare sand dunes on Fenit island in the county. The blaze which had to be put out by the fire service occurred on Thursday evening. Local conservationists have expressed their dismay. The fire may have been started deliberately.
Biggest trout in 118 years caught in Lough Corrib West of Ireland
A Brown trout weighing nearly 24lb was taken from Lough Corrib on Saturday afternoon.
The specimen fish, unofficially the second largest on record, was caught by Welsh angler Ceri Jones in deep water near the lake’s biggest island, Inish Goill.
If ratified by the Irish Specimen Fish Committee, the fish will go down as a record for Lough Corrib, and the largest trout caught in Ireland in 118 years.
Jones (46), who works as a freelance photographer with the British Trout Fisherman, was trolling using a “roach deadbait” when he hooked the fish.
“When I hooked it first I knew instantly it was a big fish. It was like hooking a car, the line just streamed off the reel.”
Jones, from the Rhondda Valley in south Wales, played the fish for more than an hour before he managed to land it. The trout was weighed by another angler at the water’s edge at 25lb 2oz, but was later weighed at 23lb 12oz using a butcher’s scale.
Before Jones returned to Burke’s Bar in the village of Clonbur, Co Galway, where he is staying, word of his catch had got out, and dozens of people came to see the fish. Jones plans to have his specimen trout stuffed and mounted in the bar.
Lough Corrib is renowned as one of the best wild brown trout fisheries in the world.
The Irish trout record is held by William Mears, who landed a brown trout of 26lb 2oz from Lough Ennell, Co Westmeath, in 1894.
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