Catholic Church silent on Fermanagh priest's call to dump Allianz

The Roman Catholic Church has yet to respond to a Fermanagh priest’s call for that body to end its association with giant insurer Allianz.

Fr Gabriel Dolan, who ministers in the Aghadrumsee/Clones, has told The Impartial Reporter that it was time the church cut its ties with the insurance giant in view of its ongoing alleged link to the Israeli war machine.

He also claimed that the church was paying up to £20m per year to the insurers.

But, despite a number of requests, this newspaper has been unable to get a response so far from the church on its priest’s call.

Fr Dolan said that his organisation was hopeful that there would be a church response.

"We are exploring a number of avenues," he said.

Fr Dolan previously said that he and Fr Joe McVeigh were setting up an organisation with a global organisation called 'Priests Against Genocide' and the Association of Catholic Priests are onto it.

"We want to build that up, but we also want to provide them with alternatives if they are viable.

"We plan to talk to bishops and other church leaders and by January they could be in a position to switch to a new insurer."

In a parallel development, GAA bosses are coming under increasing pressure to reconsider their links with Allianz.

A top-level management meeting in Croke Park last weekend was split on the thorny question.