Author Archives: Aaron McAllorum


“Wednesday marked the first time that Ireland’s Parliament has lambasted the Vatican, rather than local church leaders, over the past 17 years of pedophile-priest scandals in Ireland. Those revelations have eroded Catholic authority in a nation where the church still owns most schools and several hospitals, and state-run broadcasters still toll a twice-daily call to Catholic prayer.”

* Narcissism, In speech but not used by Kenny.
Bishop John Magee and Pope John Paul II

In “Angels and Demons,” Dan Brown’s prequel to “The Da Vinci Code,” an ambitious Irish priest [played by Ewan McGregor, above, in the movie of the book] who is close to the Pope almost becomes Pope himself by plotting and eliminating enemies during a papal conclave. The book’s Rev. Patrick McKenna may well have been loosely based on Bishop John Magee.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Tf4WiFaLxA&playnext=1&list=PLBDA1D3AAF17F59C5

New Irish Church Inquiry Slams Bishop John Magee (Irish Central)

Previously: Cloyne, The Vatican And Bishop John Magee

* The Vatican was “entirely unhelpful” to any bishop who wanted to implement procedures for dealing with allegations of child sexual abuse in the Irish church.

* The response of the Diocese of Cloyne was “inadequate and inappropriate”.

* Primary responsibility for the failure to implement agreed child sexual abuse procedures lies with then-bishop of Cloyne John Magee.

* Bishop Magee (above with Pope Benedict) “took little or no active interest” in the management of clerical child sexual abuse cases until 2008, 12 years after the framework document on child sexual abuse was agreed by the Irish Bishops’ Conference.

* That some child sexual abuse allegations were not reported to gardaí was the diocese’s “greatest failure”.

* There were 15 cases between 1996 and 2005 which “very clearly” should have been reported by the diocese, of which nine were not.

More findings here

Bishop Magee ‘Deliberately’ Misled Inquiry (RTE)

Republic Of Ireland: Uilleann Bagpiper Patrick Martin, from Inniskeen at the Twelfth of July garden party, this evening at Aras an Uachtarain, on the theme ” Bridges Built” – attended by almost 400 guests from various traditions and parts of the island of Ireland.

Northern Ireland: Police have fired baton rounds at rioters as fresh trouble erupted in Belfast tonight. Petrol bombs, bricks, bottles and fireworks were hurled at officers during the stand-off in Ardoyne in north Belfast. A car was hijacked and set alight, while police deployed water cannon. Some officers were briefly set alight after being struck by a petrol bomb.

Northern Ireland Marching Season Ends With New Outbreak Of Violence (Guardian)

Northern Ireland Violence Triggered by Ideology And Mistrust Of Police (Henry McDonald, Guardian)

(Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland/Reuters)
Gordon and Sarah Brown with their son Fraser
Screenshot from The Sun website in October 2006

The most emotive allegations about Mr Brown related to his son’s illness. When Mrs Brooks called Mr Brown in October 2006, he and his wife had only recently learned of his son’s condition, which often leads to a shortened lifespan.

Mr and Mrs Brown were understood to have been “extremely distressed” when, days later, The Sun broke the story on its website. Fraser’s illness became front-page news across Fleet Street.

Some accounts yesterday suggested that The Sun had obtained the information by getting access to the medical records of Fraser, who is five years old next week.

As Gordon And Sarah Brown Learnt Of Son’s Illness, The Sun Editor Rebekah Brooks Called To Say She Knew (James Kirkup, Telegraph)

News International Papers Targeted Brown (Nick Davies, David Leigh, Guardian)

 

The fairground at Oxegen last night

Four men from Northern Ireland have suffered slash wounds in a row at the Oxegen music festival at Punchestown Racecourse in County Kildare.

The incident happened shortly after 0400 BST in the Blue  campsite at the event. Four men, who are all in the late teens, had their injuries treated at the site,Another man, aged 19, has been taken to Tallaght General Hospital.

Five Suffer Slash Wounds In Row At Oxegen Festival (BBC)

(Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland)