When Fr. Paddy Conway opened his wardrobe on December 7th the last thing he expected to find inside was a burglar.Yet there sat Michael Clune of Ennis, Co. Clare hiding after he had stolen €20 from Fr. Conway.
After Clune had returned the stolen money, Fr. Conway gave him a lift back to Ennis. Clune is a regular before the local district court and has 69 previous convictions. He pleaded guilty to the received an eight month suspended jail term consecutive to the eight months in jail he is currently serving.
Commenting on the incident, Fr. Conway said:
“I said more or less to Michael, ‘I know your family and I know you since you’re a young lad and why would you do that to me?’ He asked me ‘will you drive me down town?’ and I said ‘I will but first you will have to give me my €20 back’”
Apparently on the journey back to Ennis, Mr. Clune asked the priest if he would buy him some methodone but the priest refused.
Despite everything, Fr. Conway said that he and Mr. Clune departed on good terms that night.
Via Irish Times
