Striking the right balance between Covid-safety and welcoming pilgrims back to Lough Derg with confidence was the deciding factor, Fr La Flynn said and noted that by its very nature the pilgrimage is a tactile one.

Fr Laurence (La) Flynn intends to seek the way for Lough Derg to move ahead ‘in a missionary key’, reaching out from a place that is geographically ‘on the margins’ to offer a welcome to those who feel themselves to be ‘on the margins’.

Hundreds expected to cross the threshold of mercy on Sunday in St Patrick's Basilica at the launch of the 2016 pilgrimage season.

New appointment announced in clerical changes for Diocese of Clogher.