The author of a controversial new biography on the late Archbishop John Charles McQuaid said he regretted that the manner in which the book had come to public attention had caused "hurt and pain" to the archbishop's relatives and to many Catholics.
However, Mr John Cooney, the author of John Charles McQuaid - Ruler of Catholic Ireland, said he also regretted that the book had been "criticised unwisely" by some church authorities and critics before they had even read its contents.
Reacting to a statement from the Archdiocese on his book, Mr Cooney said the hostile reaction to the biography was "a reminder that the censorious shadow of Archbishop McQuaid still permeates the Ireland of the Celtic Tiger".
The author said the description of an allegation that Archbishop McQuaid made "an improper sexual advance to a schoolboy" took up just 11 pages of a 500-page book but was "jumped on" in the media presentation. He said he had "an academic duty" to make known the late Dr Noel Browne's manuscript detailing the allegations of a school inspector about the archbishop's behaviour.
Mr Cooney said he had been misrepresented as accusing the archbishop of being a paedophile when he had intended to present the allegation as part of the discussion of the psychology and temperament of Dr McQuaid.