The future of Ireland should not be left to politicians alone, according to the Abbot of Glenstal Abbey who has called for the inclusion of recognised artists in a reformed Seanad.

Mark Patrick Hederman told the Percy French Summer School a new Seanad should be constituted and should include artists. He said seven of the 250 members of Aosdána, "our House of Artists", had been conferred with the title 'Saoi' meaning "wise one", an honour bestowed by their peers.

“And it seems to me that these seven should be automatically members of whatever kind of Seanad we devise for the future.”

Describing artists and poets as diviners and prospectors, the author said in other times, the truth had come through politics, religion or philosophy, but “in these times in which we live, the traces are few and the scent is poor”.

He said, without even being aware of it, committed artists and poets could be a mouthpiece. “Such artists and poets are rare but we are fortunate to have more than our share in this country”.

The former headmaster at Glenstal Abbey School said that the future must not be a repetition or "an ugly vulgar extension" of what we were already.

Fr Brendan Hoban, a founding member of the Association of Catholic Priests, told the summer school that in 20 years' time, when we celebrate the 1,600th anniversary of St Patrick's arrival in Ireland, we would also witness "the death knell of the Catholic Church" as there would be so few priests left to say Mass. He said there was a huge denial among the leadership of the church about the looming crisis.