Washington Pressure on Dodds

Posted By: March 29, 2013

By Fr. Sean McManus, President of the Irish National Caucus

CAPITOL HILL. Friday, February 1, 2008 ——– The Northern Ireland Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Mr. Nigel Dodds, is increasingly under fire for the recent outburst of his adviser, Mr. Wallace Thompson.

Mr. Thompson has caused great shock in Washington for denouncing the Pope as “ the Anti-Christ”, and for threatening to oppose any Papal visit to Northern Ireland.

As an indication of how the issue is escalating, the Washington AOH has asked Fr. Sean Mc Manus, president of the Capitol Hill-based Irish National Caucus, to address them on Tuesday, February 5 on the topic of “ Anti-Catholicism in Northern Ireland”. (ADVANCE COPY BELOW)

Fr. Mc Manus, who has spent the past week briefing Members of Congress on Thompson’s sectarian rant, said, “ It’s almost as if Minister Dodds’s own Department is trying to sabotage the upcoming Investment Conference in Belfast and to discourage American investment. Already there is dark talk about organizing an American boycott of the Conference, something that I do not support. But make no mistake about it, there is a lot of anger in Washington, and utter amazement that Minister Dodds has shown little concern”.

In his address to the AOH, Fr. Mc Manus observes: “ Minister Dodds has not fired Thompson. But then how could he? Dodds himself holds the same pernicious anti-Catholic belief. Dodds has been a long-time member of Dr. Paisley’s Free Presbyterian Church, which holds as an article of faith that the Pope is the Anti-Christ. There is no record of Nigel Dodds ever dissenting from this unchristian and anti-Catholic lunacy”.

Fr. Mc Manus concluded: “ What I’m hearing time and time again is ‘Are we just expected to keep on welcoming members of the DUP to Washington, while
back in Northern Ireland the DUP demonstrates contempt for Catholics and disrespects the Irish language?’ Isn’t it sad all this is happening so soon after the very positive visit of Dr. Paisley and Martin Mc Guinness?”