Cardinal Seán Brady has conferred the papal award of the Cross Pro-Ecclesia et Pontifice (for the Church and the Pontiff) on Joe Fallon.
Since his retirement from the Defence Forces in 1989, Mr Fallon “has given of himself, his talents and his time in the service of the church, of religion and of healthcare and especially with the intellectually disabled and also with St Francis Hospice in Dublin’s Raheny,” Cardinal Brady said.
Since 2004 Mr Fallon has been a member of the Catholic Healthcare Commission on behalf of the Irish bishops.
He has been director of services for the Daughters of Charity Service in Ireland, for people with intellectual disabilities and a trustee, director and company secretary to the St Francis Hospice in Raheny.