Archbishop Diarmuid Martin criticizes anti-mask demonstrations

ARCHBISHOP DIARMUID MARTIN has criticized the anti-mask protesters, saying they were also part of a group that “tried to tip over” his car at the Eid al-Adha celebration in Croke Park earlier this year.

In a statement titled ‘Reflections on Lockdown Times’, Martin said that humanity had forgotten the importance of human behavior.

“At this time last year, if someone had asked us how to fight a disastrous global pandemic, very few of us would have placed hand washing and maintaining a safe distance from others at the top of our list.”

While praising the quick and generous response of the people to the global crisis, Martin said that “it would be a mistake, however, not to notice the emergence of some negative trends in Irish society.”

Over the past few weekends, several demonstrations against masks and Covid restrictions have taken place in Dublin, as well as other counties.

He continued:

When you look at some of the protests against the use of masks and other restrictive measures, behind the external conversations about respecting individual freedoms there was also a tension of denial of the virus.

Some of those who participated in these anti-mask demonstrations were the same groups that tried to overturn my car when I attended an Islamic gathering in Croke Park.

“There are voices that do not understand, or do not want to understand, what religious tolerance means in Ireland today and that should concern us all.”

Martin was one of the religious leaders who gave speeches at the first celebration of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha in July this year.