That was the past: "During a meeting at the Vatican in 1946…

That was the past: "During a meeting at the Vatican in 1946 Monsignor Giovanni Battista Montini — the future Pope Paul VI — told Ireland’s ambassador to the Holy See ‘‘you are the most Catholic country in the world!’’ The ambassador, Joseph Walshe, enthusiastically telegrammed back to Dublin that he believed the country’s relationship with the Holy See was of ‘‘a very special character’’. Just a couple of years later, the Irish Government formally invited Pope Pius XII to come and make Ireland his home in the event that the communists won the Italian general election of 1948 to which the Pope is reported to have said ‘‘Ireland is the only place I could go to - only there would I have the atmosphere and the sense of security to rule the Church as Christ wants me to rule it’’

This is (read the link) a "new Ireland" - sadly...

Link: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/papal-visit-to-ireland-unlikely-after-gilmore-statement/