An English visitor has claimed he was publicly humiliated when asked to move his guide dog at Mass in Dublin. He said he was treated like a "leper" at University Church, St Stephen's Green, yesterday.
However, the parish priest of the church, Father Ernan Neville, said there was no intention to humiliate him and he was only informing the congregation that the dog was in the aisle because he feared someone might trip over it.
Mr Sean O'Donnell, who runs a consultancy for the blind in Birmingham, said he had gone to the middle of the church and could not put the dog in between the seats because they were too narrow.
He said that from the pulpit the priest asked for the dog to be removed from the church. On being informed that he was a guide dog, Father Neville asked him to move to the back of the church, "that he was a health and safety hazard and that he, the parish priest, would be liable".
Mr O'Donnell refused to move, and he said the priest informed the congregation that if they fell over the dog, to take it up with its owner.
"Basically, I was being made a leper," he said. Mr O'Donnell also claimed a number of people left the church in protest.
Father Neville, who said the Mass, rejected the claims. He added that he never said Mass-goers should take it up with Mr O'Donnell. "All I said was that I could not be held responsible if someone tripped."
Originally he thought the dog was a pet and asked for it to be removed from the church. When Mr O'Donnell informed the sacristan during the church collection that it was a guide dog, the priest asked him to move to the back of the church.
Father Neville said the congregation needed an explanation when the dog was not moved. "My whole attitude was that people might trip over the dog."
He added that the aisle in the University church was narrow. "Theatres, for example, have special places for blind people with dogs so that they don't block the aisles."
