Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The Associated Press - 14 Sep 95
But no victims have turned up so far in Dungarvan, a district with a population of 5,674 in County Waterford.
The controversy began Sunday, when the Rev. Michael Kennedy told his congregation that five young men from Dungarvan had confided they tested positive for the AIDS virus at clinics in England.
Another 80 men were at risk because of contact with a 25-year-old woman with AIDS that Kennedy said had been "sleeping around" in the district since November, venting her rage over a boyfriend who infected her.
"Out of her anger and desperation she wanted to get her own back on as many as she could," said Kennedy, who is a distant cousin of Sen. Edward Kennedy.
He said the woman was now in a London AIDS clinic and had only weeks to live.
A reporter from an Irish newspaper, the Cork Examiner, was in the congregation and reported the claim. On Monday, media from all over Britain and Ireland descended on Dungarvan, searching for victims under the banner headline, "Angel of Death."
Health Minister Michael Noonan said Thursday health workers had uncovered no proof of Kennedy's claim. The area bishop and parish priest issued chilly statements saying Kennedy's sermon was the first they'd heard of the issue.
It would be helpful, Noonan said, "if Father Kennedy could give the name of the clinic in England, where he claims tests were carried out on young men from Dungarvan."
Kennedy refused further comment Thursday, saying the whole thing had gotten out of hand, but insisting he was right to sound the warning.
The priest was best known previously for his relationship to the American Kennedy clan. He offered prayers at the deathbed of Rose Kennedy and recently officiated at the marriage in Dublin of the daughter of the U.S. Ambassador, Jean Kennedy Smith.
Copyright 1995/The Associated Press. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Permissions Desk, The Associated Press, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020.
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Copyright © 1995 - Associated Press. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the AP Permissions Desk.
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