Offaly Express
June 15, 2009
http://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/Offaly-priest-apologises-for-offence.5366435.jp
AN Offaly priest has apologised for comments he made about inmates of the old St Conleth's Reformatory, Daingean, made last Sunday in St Joseph's Church, Ballinagar.
Monsignor Tom Coonan said on RTE that he had no recollection of describing inmates as 'young ruffians' who were placed in Daingean as no one else would have them.
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| Monsignor Tom Coonan |
According to one parishioner, the monsignor also spoke about the matter two weeks ago, saying that he had spoken to someone who denied some allegations made about the reformatory in the Ryan report.
This parishioner stated that a number of elderly women became visibly upset and left the church after Communion.
Asked to comment, Monsignor Coonan said that he apologised if he had caused any offence.
He did not recall using the phrase 'young ruffians' but said that he had said "Not all of the boys in Daingean were angels."
He apologised if this caused offence, and said he had not been speaking about the Ryan report, but the overall need for forgiveness and to look at the wrongs of the present, not just those of the past.
In the RTE interview, he stressed his abhorrence of the way young boys were treated in Daingean, just six miles from St Joseph's Church.
The source of the story is standing over the 'young ruffians' quote.
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