Bishop Walsh withdraws from Ennis abuse memorial discussion

RETIRING Bishop Willie Walsh has said he feels his involvement in efforts by Ennis Town Council to commemorate children who have suffered abuse would not be beneficial.

In a letter to Ennis Town Council, he said that he was glad to have been asked to meet with councillors but didn’t feel it was something he should become involved in. “I very much appreciate the invitation to meet with the council members on the matter. However, I feel at this point that my involvement has not been helpful and I would therefore prefer to withdraw from the matter.
“I am very conscious of and grateful for the good relations I have had with the council over the past 16 years and would not want in any way to be a source of division among those members who have been elected by the people of the town. I assure you that I will fully respect whatever decision these elected members make in relation to this matter.”
At the Town Council meeting, it was said that the bandstand area outside the Town Council building at Waterpark House in Drumbiggle was being looked at as an area for a remembrance area for victims of abuse.
“What we decided was that it is an important issue and we decided we’d go for something like the Garden of Remembrance in Cloughleigh,” said Councillor Johnny Flynn. “We’re looking at spending at least €5,000 and it will commemorate all victims of abuse, especially abuse of children, with a bench and a plaque. The town manager is to go back and look at the developing plans.”
Councillor Flynn said he understood the Killaloe diocese IS looking at separate plans for commemorating victims of abuse and that this may have been the reason for the bishop opting not to become involved with the council.
“As I read it, the Bishop has been encouraging pastoral councils to look at remembrance and I think some of them have done work on it. A number of the Town Council meetings would have been quite heated, about going ahead with a sculpture or a plaque. He may see there being two approaches, one a civic commemoration and the second a pastoral response and he may have felt the church’s involvement in the civic response would be unhelpful.”
He said that earlier plans to go ahead with a sculpture were not realistic given the current economic situation.
Sculptor Barry Wrafter contacted The Clare Champion on Wednesday and said he wasn’t pleased with the council’s handling of the issue. “I’m very disappointed with the way they went about it. They knew that I was looking for funding from the Arts Council but they’ve just cut things short,” he claimed.