Religious Officials

"The distinction between political crime and 'ordinary crime' has been long ago obliterated, as the alleged glorious 'fight for freedom and justice' takes the form of a succession of inglorious and sordid murders of innocents and gangster-style shoot-out robberies."
     Dr. Cahal Daly, Bishop of Ardagh and Clonamacnoise
     Irish Echo, 10 January 1981, 2

"If the Pope at this stage wants to act in a helpful way, let him excommunicate the murderers and gunmen who enjoy membership of his church."
     Rev. Ian Paisley, Protestant leader
     Chicago Tribune, 29 April 1981, 1-2-3-P

"All the time we have said there is hope...We have said there is a possibility of a solution and that is still possible."
     Bishop Dermot O'Mahony, Justice and Peace Commission
     New York Times, 8 May 1981, 4:3

"This is obscene. This is a disgrace and it is shameful that God's sacred gift of life should be surrendered in this way to further political aims."
     Rev. Selwood Graham
     Boston Globe, 28 May 1981, 3

"We believe that by clawing back on the part of the British government, a great opportunity to find a resolution was lost."
     Bishop Dermot O'Mahony, Justice and Peace Commission
     Chicago Tribune, 11 July 1981, 1-9-1

"Some theologians could say that the five demands were not enough to give your life for, but you must remember the hunger strike is the culmination of four years of protest in the most degenerating conditions. It is not something someone had a brainstorm about in March. The world passed by and no one noticed until people started dying."
     Father Brian Brady, priest to prisoners in Long Kesh
     Irish Echo, 29 August 1981, 4