THE Archbishop of Cashel and Emly, Dr Clifford, has accepted an apology from the outgoing Minister for Social Welfare, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, who accused him of "lies and deceit" during the divorce referendum.
Dr Clifford said he hoped that in future public debate "proper decorum would be observed and that people wouldn't accuse each other publicly of lying".
In a statement, he said he accepted Mr De Rossa's apology in the spirit in which it was given and he wished him well. He also paid tribute to the excellent work done by the minister in government, "in particular his concern for the less well off".
Mr De Rossa, who had accused Dr Clifford of "lies and deceit" over statistics on the breakdown of second marriages, made his apology during an interview on RTE's Morning Ireland. He said Dr Clifford had believed that he had insulted him by comments he made on the divorce issue on November 20th, 1995, and he wanted to apologise.
It is understood that this followed an exchange of letters between Mr De Rossa and Dr Clifford and that Mr De Rossa had agreed to apologise publicly for his comments when an appropriate opportunity arose.
At a government press conference three days before the divorce referendum, Mr De Rossa said the Catholic bishops were lying about the consequences and referred to statistics on marriage breakdown cited by Dr Clifford during the campaign.
In a heated Dail exchange on another matter in February last year, Mr De Rossa was himself accused of being a "liar" by a Fianna Fail TD, Mr Joe Walsh. Mr De Rossa said he intended to take the accusation to the Committee on Procedure and Privileges.
Dr Clifford said he was "intrigued" at Mr De Rossa's reaction at being called a "liar" and recalled Mr De Rossa's remarks about him. "He was referring to a statistic quoted by me in a pastoral to my people. He has never withdrawn the accusation even though I told him publicly that this accusation was false and that I felt greatly hurt by it," he said.