Sligo priest looking forward to resuming duties

Patsy McGarry, Religious Affairs Correspondent
27/05/2006

Canon Niall Ahern, parish priest of Strandhill and Ransboro parish in Sligo who stood aside from ministry last February amid extraordinary media attention, will not resume his ministry there immediately.

This is despite a decision by the DPP that he will face no charges following a Garda inquiry into a child sex abuse allegation against him, dating from the 1970s. Before he can resume his duties he must await the outcome of a church inquiry.

On February 5th last Bishop of Elphin Dr Christopher Jones said in St Patrick's church, Strandhill, that Canon Ahern would stand aside from ministry while the allegation was investigated. The bishop insisted it was unfounded.

In a brief statement yesterday the canon spoke of his relief "that this harrowing time is over" and said: "I greatly look forward to resuming my work in the parish."

He added: "I am conscious that I am neither the first nor the last person to suffer an untrue allegation. Nonetheless, these days, such an accusation can force a priest to abandon his normal life until he can positively prove his innocence. We should not feel bitter about this."

It was part of the price to be paid for the church's slow action on such cases in the past, he said, repeating what he said last February.

In a brief statement yesterday Elphin diocese confirmed it had been informed of the DPP's decision not to prosecute Canon Ahern. "In the light of this outcome, the diocese will now conduct an investigation in accordance with canon law. This will be concluded as expeditiously as possible. The diocese looks forward to making a full and definitive statement when this investigation is complete," it concluded.

Canon Ahern's standing aside and its public nature, as well as a widely-held belief that grounds for it were spurious, caused many priests in Ireland to express anxiety about current church practice in such cases.

Last night the president of the National Conference of Priests of Ireland, Father John Littleton, said Canon Ahern's experience, and that of other priests in such circumstances, highlighted the belief that lessons were to be learned where the implementation of church procedure on child protection was concerned when it came to dealing with allegations against priests which were not well founded.

He was "delighted" to hear about Canon Ahern yesterday and that it had made RT? Radio's News At One programme, not least as, last February when Danish riots over a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad dominated headlines elsewhere, here Canon Ahern's stepping down was a lead story.

He wondered why it was necessary for a bishop to attend the standing down of a priest in such a public way, particularly where allegations may be spurious.

He was critical of the lack of follow-up pastoral care by bishops for priests reinstated in ministry when allegations were found to be groundless and of a lack of pastoral concern for parishioners supportive of priests wrongly accused.

? The Irish Times