The Ambassador to the Holy See debate

Dear sir - I write to you in relation to the above debate which seems to have electrified some of our Fianna Fail members of Meath County Council. The state owns the Embassy in the Vatican, where 868 people live and this area is ½ kilometre square. The Government approached the Holy See with the intention of amalgamating both Embassy's into the one owned by the Irish Government and this request was refused, even though the British Government has the same arrangement in the Vatican. I do hope that the Holy See will agree with the Meath County Council amended motion which called on the Tánaiste Eamonn Gilmore to re-enter into negotiations with the Holy See to hammer out an agreement where there would be cost savings of €1 million a year. I also believe that there should be a review in cities where we have more than one embassy. It has now been confirmed that the previous Minister for Foreign Affairs, Michael Martin received a similar request from his Department to close the three embassies as a cost saving measure. Typical of Fianna Fail ministers, they failed to make any decisions in this area. It is time for the Irish bishops to intervene with the Vatican and have this matter sorted, as we do know that they did have huge influence in Rome when it came to dealing with child sex abuse investigations. Yours, John V Farrelly MCC, Hurdlestown, Kells.