Most priests polled by two Sunday newspapers say Bishop Eamonn Casey should be allowed to return to Ireland.
Of 100 priests polled by Ireland on Sunday, 66 per cent said they would be happy to see him return. The Sunday Tribune polled 66 priests of whom 84 per cent said he should be allowed to return. However, 30 per cent said he should not be allowed to minister as a priest if he comes back.
Dr Casey, then the bishop of Galway, left Ireland in 1992 on the eve of revelations by The Irish Times of his relationship with Ms Annie Murphy, by whom he had a son.