Sir, - Two newspapers last Sunday headlined for us that a book on the life of the late Archbishop McQuaid would portray him as having been a paedophile. At least one headline stated as fact that the late Archbishop was "an evil sex abuser of young boys". The evidence for these shocking statements was based on a document given to the author of the book, a document written by the late Dr Noel Browne on foot of a report made to him in a Galway hotel by a retired school inspector, now also deceased.
From what has appeared in print and from what the author has since contributed in radio interviews, the troubled inspector revealed to Dr Browne that Archbishop McQuaid allegedly attempted to sexually assault the young unnamed son of a Dublin publican. This awful incident was said to have taken place in the upstairs private lounge of an unnamed Dublin pub where the Archbishop was supposed to have been in the habit of having a drink.
In the course of a radio interview, the book's author quoted further details from Dr Browne's document. These included that the pub in question was located in Drumcondra, that the incident took place on a Sunday afternoon in the late 1950s, that the publican's son served the Archbishop because it was a very busy time for the regular staff, that it was perhaps after a match in nearby Croke Park, and that the Archbishop was served a whiskey.
I was a secretary to Archbishop McQuaid for the last nine years of his life. I have spoken to colleagues who were on his staff back to the mid-1950s and their experience resembles mine. I never knew the Archbishop to have visited a pub, much less frequented one. I never knew him to drink whiskey. As a matter of fact, the only drink I ever saw the Archbishop take was a fraction of a glass of wine poured for him at dinner, or a thimbleful of brandy when he was ill. He was not a Pioneer. He very rarely went over from his home in Killiney to Archbishop's House in Drumcondra on a Sunday. When he did, it was solely for an official function there.
And so, from my experience as secretary, I am not able to accept that Archbishop McQuaid was the man alleged to have been in the private upstairs room drinking whiskey in the Drumcondra pub some time in the late 1950s on a busy Sunday afternoon, possibly after a match in Croke Park, when this sordid incident is supposed to have taken place. I am very sorry for the publican's young son if he had such an awful experience and especially if he was then led to believe that the perpetrator was the Archbishop of Dublin.
I was shocked by the headlines of the Sunday Times and the News of the World. From my experience with the Archbishop, I found them unbelievable and immensely saddening. I feel that the many people, still alive, who worked with admiration and fidelity under the leadership of the Archbishop in the numerous diocesan organisations set up by him during his time in office must today be equally upset. I also feel for my fellow priests who must also be very upset.
Is it not gravely wrong to state that anybody is a paedophile without having verifiable evidence to back up such a character destroying assertion? Surely it is inexcusable to do this when the person is dead and left unprotected by any laws of libel? - Yours, etc.,
John V. Fitzpatrick, PP, Parochial House, Swords Road, Dublin 9.