A parish priest on child sex charges has been further remanded in custody because he cannot secure a suitable address to be bailed to.
Derry Magistrate's Court heard how no address has yet been obtained for Fr Edward Gallagher to mount a bail application. He has now been held in prison for more than seven weeks.
Fr Gallagher, who was parish priest in Moville from 2022 until 2024, remains suspended from ministry.
Most recently, he served as a curate at the Clonleigh, Camus and Leckpatrick parishes.
The 58-year-old, with an address at Orchard Park, Lifford, is charged with attempted sexual communication with a child on dates between April 2 and April 17, 2025.
The charges came after he was confronted by an online group outside a Derry hotel on Holy Thursday, April 17.
Defence barrister Stephen Chapman told Derry Magistrate's Court that a proposed bail application would not be going ahead, as the defendant had “not been able to obtain an address.”
He asked for the bail application to “travel along” until such time as an address can be obtained and said there was no requirement to produce the defendant.
A prosecutor told the court that a full file in the case was not expected until June 27, and as yet, nothing had been received.
Fr Gallagher was remanded in continuing custody to appear again on July 3.