Second priest cuts link to 'charity collector'
Saturday March 11 2006
Lyons
A SECOND priest has ended his association with the organiser of a major Irish secondhand clothes collection for Africa.
Ugandan priest Anthony Ssenkaayi said he no longer wished his name to be used by businessman Joe Monaghan from Clonacore, Clones, Co Monaghan, to promote the collection of clothes at churches and homes around the country.
Last year, it emerged another priest, Fr Charlie Beirne who lives in Mbarara in Uganda, had written to the bishop of Raphoe, Philip Boyce, and informed him he was no longer connected with Mr Monaghan and did not want any more clothes to be collected in his name.
Fr Beirne said: "There are people who have been going around Ireland collecting secondhand clothing on my behalf. I wish to make it clear that no one has been authorised by me to do so."
The priest, whose parents are Irish, said he had received a donation of €3,000 from Mr Monaghan in 2001 and not a penny after that.
He was shocked to learn that his name had been used for three years on leaflets asking for secondhand clothes around the country.
Fr Ssenkaayi said Mr Monaghan flew him over to Ireland and put him up in a B&B in return for his calling parishes and bishops around the country promoting his clothes collection business.
"In the agreement, they promised to give €10,000 every year," he said.
"In my estimation of what I saw, this was peanuts compared to the clothes they collected from all over Ireland in my name."
Fr Ssenkaayi said he got €5,000 from Mr Monaghan in 2004/2005, but had never received anything since.
"I have pulled out of the deals with those men," he said.
"They made me put a voice message on the office mobile phone which had to remain plugged in the office, just to defend them - saying that I am happy with their work.
"It was really using me and I hated it. I have not sent any information to the bishops about them, but I am doing so in due course," he said.
Mr Monaghan admitted that his company, Global Textile Shipping Ltd, sold secondhand clothes "principally to Eastern Europe and Russia". He said he had been in business for 10 years, employing up to four people.
When asked how much he had earned, he said: "I don't know exactly.
"It is only in the last couple of years we have begun to keep track of things like that. We rely on good will and word of mouth to keep the business going."
Mr Monaghan was not prepared to say how much money his various enterprises had given to poor communities in Africa over the past 10 years, funded by donations from the public. "If I give money to charity that's for me to know," he said.
Mr Monaghan insisted yesterday he was still friends with Fr Beirne and Fr Ssenkaayi.
Both priests, however, denied this was the case.
Mr Monaghan insisted: "We try to do things as legally as possible. We are doing it legally.
"There are a lot of people pretending, using different names and foreign nationals coming in to it," he said, adding he believed some of these people may be forging leaflets used by his business to collect clothes.
