Well, you do wonder what kind of political hay people can make out of an incident that took place in 1972. According to the BBC report (23 August 2010), it appears that nobody was arrested in connection with the 1972 bombing until 2005 - and those people were released shortly after they were arrested. The priest in question died in 1980.

According to the BBC report, "Local priest Father James Chesney rumoured to have been a member of the IRA unit responsible."

If I were a bishop and I received rumors but no proof that a priest was somehow connected to criminal activity, I think I'd be likely to transfer that priest away from his suspected connections - to remove him from the "near occasion of sin," as we used to say in the old days. So, was it a cover-up, or was it just preventing the guy from getting himself deeper into the violent activity of the IRA?


I wasn't able to find any documentation to support Dave Hanson's allegation that the Roman Catholic Church "has now admitted, aided by the British Government, shielding a priest who was a suspected IRA murderer in Claudy." Dave appears to have done a wee bit of extrapolation beyond the facts of this 38-year-old crime.

So, are there documented facts beyond what was reported by the BBC? The Independent has a longer article on the matter, but no additional factual information about the priest other than this: Records showed he provided an alibi for a person suspected of playing a prominent role in the atrocity.

-Joe Offer-