Parishioners in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin, who have been campaigning against the transfer of a much-loved local curate to another parish, have conceded defeat.
Father Sean Cassidy (62) is to be moved from the town where he has worked for 16 years to Ayrfield, in Raheny, despite protests from local businessmen, community activists and even the mayor of Holyhead in Wales.
Mr Sean Buckley, chairman of a local action committee, said people were extremely annoyed and disappointed at the move, and upset at the dismissive attitude of the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Connell, to their pleas.
"We are astounded at the archbishop's refusal to write or talk to us directly. Not one of the parishioners who wrote to him got an explanation for the move."
After numerous representations, the Dublin Diocese set up a meeting between the parishioners and Bishop Martin Drennan, area bishop for Dun Laoghaire. However, according to Mr Buckley, the bishop told them he had no authority to change the decision of Dr Connell, who "felt he couldn't be seen to pander to this kind of rebellion".
A spokesman for the archbishop, Father John Dardis, rejected the claim that a request to meet Dr Connell in person was ignored. Dr Connell was away when the request was made and Bishop Drennan met the parishioners on his behalf, he said.
The decision to transfer Father Cassidy from St Michael's, Dun Laoghaire, was made "after careful consideration of the needs of different parishes, the skills and talents of individual priests and the availability of priests" in light of falling vocations, he said.
However, Mr Buckley said it was hard to see any logic behind the move. "Most people would be thinking of retiring at 62. But Father Cassidy is being asked to move from a parish in which he has done incredible work on a spiritual and a community level, giving it huge pride, to what is surely a parish for a young man."
The priest has been reluctant to comment publicly on the controversy. However, in the St Michael's parish newsletter in June, he wrote to all parishioners that the move "is totally against my expressed wishes - but church policy deems otherwise".
He has spearheaded numerous community initiatives, from the Dun Laoghaire International Horse Show to the Care shelter for homeless people. He has helped to develop links between Dun Laoghaire and communities in Wales, France, the United States and Canada.
"With him gone, the whole infrastructure here will fall apart," Mr Buckley said. "He was on something like 47 committees. He was a visitor of the sick, a champion of drunks and drug addicts. People knew where to go when they were down on their luck."
He added: "What's most unbelievable, though, is the church's attitude of lying down, ignoring any criticism, and just waiting for things to go away."
