The former bishop of Ferns, Dr Brendan Comiskey, has begun delivering
public talks on bereavement, and addressed a group of more than 100
people at a well-known Monaghan hotel last Wednesday.
Comiskey,
who controversially resigned his post in 2002, was strongly criticised
for his failure to protect children from notorious clerical abusers such
as the late Fr Sean Fortune in a subsequent government report published
in 2005.
It criticised Comiskey's failure to report
incidents of alleged sexual abuse to authorities, and to keep alleged
abusers away from children.
Despite these failures,
Comiskey – who is now a recovering alcoholic – returned to his home
county of Monaghan last Wednesday night to give a talk to the local
Monaghan Bereavement Support group in the Westenra Arms hotel.
Those
present heard him give an hour-long free talk on bereavement entitled
"The Mystery of Death – Living to Die, Dying to live".
Comiskey,
who has since gone on to counsel alcoholics and is bishop emeritus of
Ferns, was not available for comment when contacted on Friday.
Lily McMahon of the Monaghan bereavement support group, described Comiskey's address as "fantastic".
But
the former Sinn Féin mayor of Monaghan, Owen Smyth, said he was
"appalled" that Comiskey had been asked to address the event.
"In
my time as an elected rep in this area, I have had to deal with a lot
of cases paedophilia," he told the Sunday Tribune. "I think frankly Dr
Comiskey is damaged goods."
SIC: ST/IE