A "decisive and resolute response from society" is needed to tackle the problem of so-called joyriding, mourners were told yesterday at the funeral of a priest killed in an accident involving a stolen car.
Father Seán McCartan (64) was killed near the Border last Sunday morning in a collision with a car driven by Martin James Kelly (20).
The accident happened on the main Dundalk/Newry road near Cloughoge, on the outskirts of Newry. Both died instantly. Their funerals were held yesterday.
At the funeral of Father McCartan, Archbishop Seán Brady offered his sympathies to the Kelly family.
He said the word joyriding was clearly inappropriate, as there was no joy to what had happened. A response to the practice was needed, he said.
"The security of life and limb of other road users demands such response. The common good requires that measures are taken and resources deployed to address this activity."
Dr Brady added that a broader effort to deal with the causes of the problem was also required.
"There is a deeper problem too, that of identifying and eliminating the causes of such behaviour. Perhaps a beginning could be made by distinguishing true joy from the frantic pursuit of thrills and spills," he said.
"Happiness and joy are often seen as a result of good luck, success or having what one desires. Given our present circumstances, joy in that sense would have to be seen as unattainable by many people.
"But there is another view of joy which sees it as coming from a deeper place within ourselves and not depending on outward circumstances or on any given situation. Joy can be the result of the conscious choices we make ourselves, but we do need to search for real joy and to work at attaining it," he said.
"I offer my sympathy to the parishioners of this parish who have lost an outstanding parish priest and to the parishioners of the other parishes where he had served, especially to his many friends in Dundalk, and in his native parish of Beragh.
"Today my thoughts are with the priests of our own diocese who, once again, are being sorely tried and tested by this latest tragedy."