Ruadhán Jones
Fr Peter McVerry. Homelessness activist Fr Peter McVerry’s interview with Tommy Tiernan met with much acclaim on social media, which he said was “pleasing”.
After the 15 minute interview aired on Saturday, Fr McVerry – who spoke out forcefully on the issue of homelessness – was praised for “the quiet force of his witness”.
Fine Gael MEP Seán Kelly took to Twitter to say “it was humbling and refreshing listening to the wonderful Fr McVerry” and praised his “wise words” – “live sensibly, give generously”.
Former parliamentary correspondent for The Irish Times, Michael O’Regan, also spoke up, asking “when will Governments listen to Fr Peter McVerry”? He added that it was a “great interview with this great man who has dedicated his life to the marginalised”.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Fr McVerry joked that he’s happy “so long as I don’t make a complete fool of myself”, but he wished more of his message about homelessness had been aired.
“The message I want to put out which really he didn’t address on the interview is the issue of homelessness,” Fr McVerry said. “That’s what I’m always interested in addressing rather than me personally. We did talk about that but it was all edited out.”