CARDINAL SEÁN Brady should make a full apology to a priest who was removed from his parish in Co Louth after an allegation of abuse made against him was subsequently found to be false.
That’s according to Labour Senator Mary Moran who is part of the parish of Blackrock, Co Louth, which Fr Oliver Brennan was attached to at the time of the allegation in August 2010.
Yesterday Fr Brennan told LMFM radio that being accused of child abuse “is every priest’s nightmare”. The allegation dates back to the early 1970s and was investigated by the PSNI and later by Cardinal Brady. Both enquiries cleared him of any wrongdoing.
He said he had no idea an allegation was being made and the last two years have been “very difficult, quite horrendous really”.
“I’ve always felt the worst thing a person could do would be to hurt a child in any way or an underage person,” he said. “Suddenly, on the 14th August, 2010, I had an allegation against me saying that I did do that. Therefore when one believes the worst thing that could be done was what one was accused of doing – I was in such a state of shock I think for a few months.”
Fr Brennan said it is only right that investigations into such allegations are “very thorough and that every iota reported is investigated”. However, he said that, “it is unfortunate that because of the incorrect activity of church leaders in the past”, that priests are now “very vulnerable”.
He said the PSNI and the Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland both exonerated him. “At a very early stage a police woman said to me, off the record, ‘We know you are an innocent man,’” said Fr Brennan. “They concluded, after interviewing this person and interviewing me, her words were, ‘You are a gentleman, I feel very sorry for you, this is all fabricated but we must proceed.’”
Cardinal Brady celebrated Mass in Blackrock on Saturday evening and read a statement that, “the allegations against Fr Oliver Brennan have not been substantiated and Fr Oliver Brennan remains a priest in good standing and is to be restored to active ministry forthwith”.
However, a church spokesman confirmed that Fr Brennan would not be returning to Blackrock parish.