THE Kerry priest who made national headlines after claiming that Covid-19 restrictions imposed by the government reminded him of the Black and Tans is no stranger to high profile and controversial news stories.
Fr Gearóid Walsh was in the news this day last week following comments he made during two separate Masses which, in the absence of a congregation, were broadcast on Facebook.
He said the Covid travel restrictions led him to think that the spirit of the Black and Tans – who has burned down the presbytery in Ballymacelligott 100 years ago – was alive and well in terms of the disruption of people’s lives.
His remarks made headline news in a number of newspapers and Fr Walsh, the parish priest in Ballymacelligott, was also interviewed at length on Liveline on RTÉ Radio One.
The Currow native previously made front page headlines as far back as 1992 when he didn’t mix his words from the pulpit with his views of the Rose of Tralee festival and late night behaviour in Killarney where he was then based as a curate.
He said at the time that the Tralee festival has become disgraceful because of drink and debauchery and that Killarney had “its own share of drunkenness and debauchery” after late night entertainment venues closed down.
In that landmark homily 28 years ago, Fr Walsh said there seemed to be a willingness to make adultery respectable for married people and a willingness to accept “whoring around” as being okay for the unmarried.
“Are there any standards anymore in anything?” he asked at the time.
“Must not someone pray on our behalf to the Heavenly Father to grant us peace in this life and save us from final damnation?”
Fr Walsh’s Black and Tans reference had him back in the news last week and during the course of an occasionally heated conversation, he told Liveline presenter Joe Duffy that his comments were prompted by travel restrictions and the decision not to allow the people to attend Mass and he questioned the manner in which faith was being treated by the government.
Fr Walsh said it led him to think that the spirit of the Black and Tans is alive and well in terms of the disruption of people’s lives and he called for more evidence-based decision making by the government during the pandemic.
He said the church had done everything it had been asked to do in terms of providing hand sanitisesrs, removing holy water fonts, social distancing and engaging ushers but nothing seems to be enough.
”We are prohibited from worshipping in public at a whim,” he said.
Asked by Joe Duffy if the comparison with the Black and Tans was extreme given that they had murdered people, Fr Walsh told the RTÉ presenter that he could be “fairly extreme” and “pretty insulting” himself on occasions.
Fr Walsh said he has an issue with anything that unnecessarily prohibits public worship without good reason and a number of callers to the radio programme supported his stance.
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