NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Live
31 March 2015 By Maurice Fitzmaurice
A priest accused of having an affair is to go on retreat “in an effort to repair the damage and hurt that I have caused”.
In a statement issued on Tuesday evening Fr Ciaran Dallat said it is his “sincere hope is that with this support I will be able to resume the exercise of priestly ministry”.
The move comes in the wake of claims made in a newspaper earlier this month that the 52-year-old cleric, from St Peter’s Cathedral in west Belfast, had a relationship with a 49-year-old businesswoman.
Up until tonight, the Diocese of Down and Connor had declined to comment in detail on on the allegation. The woman claimed the affair began in Belfast in 2012 after the pair went on a group pilgrimage.
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