The Taoiseach is once more the target of journalist Damian Thompson in today’s Daily Telegraph
Damian Thompson writes – God knows, the Irish Church has enough to be ashamed of but, as I said a couple of weeks ago, we shouldn’t be taken in by the attempt by Enda Kenny, the Taoiseach, to blame the child abuse on the Vatican. His speech was typical buck-passing blarney, glossing over the utter incompetence of the new secular Ireland in dealing with local scandals. Indeed, Kenny’s Paisleyite ranting against Rome led the Holy See to withdraw its ambassador, and I can understand why.
But one country enjoyed hearing the Irish PM play to the Church-hating gallery, and that was China. The English-language subsidiary of the People’s Daily has seized on Kenny’s remarks as justification for China’s cruel harassment of loyal Roman Catholics, many of whom have to worship in secret. Nice one, Mr Kenny: your grandstanding oratory has done nothing to help Irish abuse victims, but it’s made life a little bit harder for some of the bravest Christians in the world.