BIOGRAPHY: Bishop of Galway and former auxiliary bishop of Dublin from 1997 to 2005.
MURPHY REPORT’S FINDINGS:
The only substantial reference to Bishop Drennan in the Murphy report concerns his time as auxiliary bishop when he heard reports of inappropriate behaviour involving a priest and male teenagers in 2002 and 2003.
The report found that “the archdiocese acted correctly in immediately addressing concerns and suspicions in this case”.
Some critics pointed out, however, that he was auxiliary bishop during a period when the archdiocese did not consider itself under obligation to co-operate with Garda investigations and when it failed to provide full information to the civil authorities.
HIS RESPONSE:
He has resisted calls for his resignation and said there was nothing in the Murphy report that placed him in a similar situation to bishops who were criticised,
He said: “The role of the auxiliary bishop was to support the decisions of the archbishop. All major decisions are made by the archbishop. We did not have access to the files or information on individual priests.”
OUTCOME:
He remains bishop of Galway.