Ciaran’s Peculier [sic] Blog

Attentive readers of my blog will have noticed that I have refrained from calling on Cardinal Sean Brady to resign. There are many reasons for this. For one thing, as a lapsed Catholic, it would be churlish of me to make any demand, no matter how unlikely to be heeded, on an organisation with which I have severed most of my ties.  What’s more, we’re both Cavanmen, and the fact that we come from the same county should count for something. (Furthermore I think a relative of his was my Godfather.)

 I know Sean Brady, though not well, and I would hope that the name Ciaran Parker is familiar to him. Personally he has never done me any harm, and this counts for a lot with me. I invited him to a book launch in 2008 and I put down his non-attendance to pressures of work. This was not tokenism on my part. I certainly would have preferred to see him there than many of those I made damn sure remained uninvited. He was the first person, apart from myself, to teach me French. Perhaps he can take some credit for the fact that I now read French very well. My experience of him is that he is largely free from the pomposity of some members of the hierarchy, a weakness which I personally believe is often fed by the fawning sycophancy of sections of the laity.

 As for his continued role as Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, that’s a decision for him.