A CARPENTER was ordained into the priesthood at the weekend by Bishop of Killaloe Willie Walsh, the last ordination the bishop believes he will make before he steps down in 2010.Fergal O'Neill (36) was ordained in his hometown of Shannon.
The last Killaloe ordination was carried out by Dr Walsh five years ago and, at the time, he believed it would be his last.
But Mr O'Neill was able to bypass the standard six-year training programme to because he served eight years as a Redemptorist.
The diocese has had no new entrants to the seminary in the past two years.
"We need younger people coming into priesthood. Soon, we are talking about a third of priests between 65 and 75 and half of the priests being over 60," Dr Walsh said.
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