Having posted a video to Facebook, Fr Joe McGrath announced his support for local Longford independent James Morgan.
He also poked some light fun with some of the other candidates in the running for the position, but since posting the video yesterday afternoon, it has already amassed around 50,000 views and been shared several hundred times.
(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));
Many thanks to Father Joe for a great video. 'Let's give him a shot at it'
Posted by James Morgan on Monday, 22 February 2016
While some of commended the priest's outspoken opinion, others have not been as big a fan, with reports that the local Fine Gael party has made a complaint about the video to the presbytery in Longford.
Talking to LongfordLeader.ie, Fr McGrath stated: “It has gone way beyond my expectations. [...] It wasn’t meant to be offensive. [..] “I don’t feel it is inappropriate. [..] I know that some people might consider that I was using my profile. I was aware of that before I did it but I think that this is for the greater good.”