Opinion
A man who brings us back to the basic tenets of faith
Country Living with Francis Farragher
My ageing Massey Ferguson is not exactly the envy of my neighbourhood but it does have an old radio that works, keeping me in touch with all things local and national.
In the midst of my chores on Saturday, I tuned into Radio 1, where the excellent Áine Lawlor was doing an interview with one Fr Tony Flannery, the Redemptorist priest from Attymon, whose Masses I have chanced to attend, and enjoyed, over the years, but alas not any more.
For the past three years, Fr Tony has been ‘suspended from duties’ by a powerful body in the Catholic Church, known as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), something akin to a disciplinary committee of the GAA, except that they are a lot more secretive and judgmental.
His so-called crime was that, at the height of the clerical sex abuse scandal in Ireland, he wrote that the “priesthood as we have it now in Ireland, is not as Jesus intended”, if anything, an understatement in terms the awfulness of what happened for decades across every corner of Ireland. Years back the term ‘silenced’ was used in the context of disciplinary action against priests, but Tony Flannery certainly has not been silenced since the ruling by the CDF: in fact, he has travelled internationally to set up a reform movement in the Church.
Now 68 years of age, he remarked rather jaundicedly that his best chance of having the sanctions against him lifted would be a scenario, maybe a decade or so from now, if he was terminally ill, and the authorities decided that enough was enough.
He was there at the very start of the Galway Novena over 30 years ago and it was rather poignant to hear him speak of his official Church isolation towards the end of another successful nine day celebration of faith by the banks of the Corrib and also on the year’s great date of love, Valentine’s Day.
The poor man is obviously hurting very deeply on a personal level by being prevented from ‘putting on the vestments’ and celebrating the Eucharist, his great mission and purpose in life. But despite the unpleasantness of it all, he has also been stimulated by the many, many people in the Church, who want to see reform brought in and who want to see an end to the cloak-and-dagger attitude that has dragged the institution to its knees over recent years.
One of his tales about attending a recent funeral of a person that he knew well paints its own picture of a side of the Church that’s more reminiscent of the CIA than a Christian organisation. The priest in charge of the ceremony asked Tony Flannery to put on the vestment and to ‘come up on the altar’ with him. It was an offer he declined on the basis, that if he did go onto the altar, word of his action would have reached the Vatican by that same evening, and (in my words) ‘all hell would break loose’.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Bradley Bytes – a sort of political column with Dara Bradley
Even years after their deaths, some Galway politicians are still being credited with securing works.
At a recent meeting of Galway City Council, during discussion about the BusConnects project on the Dublin Road, it was outlined how a traffic lights junction would be installed at the entrance to Merlin Park Hospital as part of the overall works.
Cllr Frank Fahy (FG) said there was nothing new about this proposal – it had been first mooted by the late Councillor Bridie O’Flaherty in The Connacht Sentinel newspaper more than 30 years ago.
Bridie, a former Mayor who retired from politics in 1999 and died in 2008, had for a long time campaigned for the lights.
Her daughter, Cllr Terry O’Flaherty (Ind), confirmed to the meeting it was at least 35 years since her mother had proposed traffic lights at the hospital entrance.
Another former mayor, Cllr Angela Lynch-Lupton (FG), who retired from politics in 2004 and died in 2007, was credited by Cllr Donal Lyons (Ind) for championing a pedestrian bridge on the old Clifden Railway Bridge – a ‘Millennium Project’ that should have been built over 20 years ago but looks set to proceed in the coming years.
Cllr Declan McDonnell (Ind) said credit for the bridge was also due to former Fianna Fáil Minister, Séamus Brennan, a Salthill man who was TD for Dublin South until his death in 2008.
“He put it forward as a Millennium Project and I was Mayor at the time,” said Cllr McDonnell.
Maybe when the projects are eventually brought to fruition, they could be named after their original supporters.
The Bridie O’Flaherty traffic light junction doesn’t necessarily trip off the tongue, but the (Séamus) Brennan Bridge has a ring to it.
(Photo by Joe O’Shaughnessy: The late Bridie O’Flaherty with her daughter Terry in 1999).
This is a shortened preview version of this column. For more Bradley Bytes, see the March 24 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.
World of Politics with Harry McGee
An Opposition party is a bit like an invading army trying to surmount the defences of a seemingly impregnable fortress – constantly surveying the moat, the drawbridge, the doors and the battlements to spot any weakness.
For a Government party, the chink usually reveals itself when it tries to push through a deeply unpopular policy – like, for example, the decision to bring the eviction ban to a close at the end of March.
The Government’s thinking was that, by delaying the end of it, it was storing up problems for itself. The longer it left the measure in place, the bigger the queue of landlords who wished to sell up when the restrictions were lifted, triggering a huge number of evictions.
As it was, even ending the restriction now, according to campaigners such as Peter McVerry, was going to cause a “tsunami” of evictions.
Senior Coalition figures admitted that it was going to have an impact on homelessness in the short term.
As soon as the Government announced it was lifting the ban, there was a hue and cry from the Opposition.
Several back benchers in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael expressed concern but were brought around by assurances from senior Ministers that local authorities and approved housing bodies would be given the go-ahead to buy properties from landlords who were selling up and leaving tenants in situ.
However, if there are any upsides to the move, they will not become apparent for months at the very least, by which time there could be a big spike in the homelessness figures.
From the moment the decision was made, the Green Party TD for Dublin Central Neasa Hourigan signalled she opposed the move.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Inside Track with John McIntyre
MAYO are already there: and the odds favour Galway joining their great Connacht foes in the National League Final at Croke Park on Sunday week. That’s the exciting scenario after the penultimate round of Division One fixtures over the weekend. It would also represent only the second time the counties have clashed in Gaelic football’s spring showpiece.
Given that the Tribesmen only managed a solitary win from their opening four league games – a situation which sparked loose talk about the threat of relegation – to now stand on the brink of reaching the league decider is a noteworthy turnaround following victories over Monaghan and Armagh.
It leaves Galway in control of their own destiny. A win or a draw in their final group game against Kerry at Pearse Stadium on Sunday will see them through to the decider and given what’s at stake, it should result in a bumper crowd gathering in Salthill for a repeat of last year’s All-Ireland Final. A victory for Jack O’Connor’s team might be enough to see them through, although both Roscommon and Tyrone remain in the mix.
Though some observers are already doubting the benefits of a potential league final between Galway and Mayo in such close proximity to the Connacht championship, I have no truck with such reservations. For starters, this is the GAA’s second most prestigious competition and given that Galway have only won four league titles in the county’s history, why wouldn’t they target a massive early-season boost.
Mind you, at half-time against Armagh in the Athletic Grounds on Sunday, it appeared the home team were going to take some catching after building up a four-point lead in a low-scoring and defensive orientated encounter. They were the beneficiaries of a fortunate goal from their roving custodian Ethan Raftery, but there was more than a suspicion of square ball in Connor Gleeson’s crowded goalmouth.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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