The Church of Ireland Gazette editorial said: Another remarkable sign of a changing Ireland is in the area of morality, the speed with which the country is throwing off the constraints of its religious past. The public life of our Taoiseach is a good example of this. Surely the sight of Miss Celia Larkin accompanying Mr Ahern at home and abroad as he goes about state business is astonishing. Mr Ahern is a married man and he is not married to Miss Larkin. There are photographs in the newspapers of Miss Larkin with Mr Ahern on foreign visits, of her accompanying Mrs Blair on walkabouts in the streets of Dublin.
It is remarkable that the leader of the government should feel no need to make apology for this situation. It is even more remarkable that the Roman Catholic Church, until recently the staunch defender of public morality in this country, has been so silent in this instance. Can one imagine that Archbishop John Charles McQuaid would have been so reticent?
Of course the church is in a delicate position at a time when fresh scandals involving Christian Brothers or priests are almost a daily feature of the newspapers.
Mr Ahern's own delicate situation is no doubt in part a result of the very clear teaching of the Roman Catholic Church that divorce is not permitted. But there are other more important commandments. Although we often regard Britain as a country with lesser moral values than our own, in Britain this situation would be a matter of scandal and probably resignation. Remember Cecil Parkinson!
We may feel a certain sympathy or even pity for Mr Ahern as an individual. But he is not just an individual. He is the leader of the government. He is a role model. He represents our nation abroad. Ireland is changing fast. No longer are the old certainties so certain in politics or morals. It is an exciting time, a time of wonderful opportunities. But it would be a great pity if, in embracing the new, we were to lose some of the values of decency and responsibility which have served us well in the past.