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AN INVESTIGATION IS underway after the Irish Catholic website was hacked overnight.
The main page of the site was replaced by a blue and white screen and words that said ‘Site off-line. You. Got. Taken.’ as well as the following message:
The Irish Catholic – Ireland’s biggest and best-selling Catholic newspaper since 1888 is currently hacked We should be back shortly. Thank you for your patience. And wish you to continue beliveing [sic] in your false religion.
The hacker also stated:
“Gotta love false hope”
Managing editor Garry O’Sullivan told TheJournal.ie that he wasn’t perturbed by the hacking:
I’ve been dealing with and talking about child sex abuse for the last ten years so it puts everything into perspective. It just means we need to put up our security.
He said the hacked homepage emerged when his IT department restarted the site’s server while dealing with another issue.
The IT department said that they restarted the server and that [page] was in the background and it popped up again. It looks like a residue from a previous issue. But obviously it is of concern that somebody has been hacking the site.
He added:
The Irish Catholic and our readers have put up with a lot more over the last few years than hacking.
Mr O’Sullivan also said the fact the hacker chose the website “is a testament to the profile of the paper” but added that “any idiot can slag off a person for their religious beliefs”.
“I would prefer they write a letter to the editor with a more reasonable argument,” he suggested.
In April of this year, the details of more than 300 subscribers to the horse trade magazine The Irish Field – which is owned by the Agricultural Trust, which also owns the Irish Catholic – were hacked and released.
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If hell existed Louise
Websites like that need to be shut down anyhow. Nobody interested in them can use the bleedin’ tinternet anyhow.
So cause your not interested in it it should be shut down. Wow. Think that’s called censorship. And what type of people are interested in this.
Sure who needs freedom of speech anyway :D
Lolz
Have to say thanks to the hackers (no disrespect to the paper) but i would not have clicked on the website except i heard about it was hacked so I had to take a look. But when i clicked on The Irish Catholic website it is back up and running with an excellent article about HSE and how it is disgracefull when it comes to dealing with CHILD ABUSE reports… There is obviously an army of people (around 21000) who deserve to be heard out there and have been treated by the HSE as if their story, their abuse does not matter.. I am one of them. I would love to get in contact with any one whos report was thrown out. I want to get an army behind me to take down the HSE and get some way of been heard and CHILD ABUSE reports dealt with appropriately, correctly and with care and compassion.!!!!!
The paper should concentrate on the army of paedophiles in the organisation it reports on, not worrying on how the HSE is trying to pick up the pieces. You should do likewise and refocus your energy to a more appropriate outlet.
unless you have dealt with the HSE I dont think you fully understand what victims go through. Anyway mine was done by a family member. Nothing to with the church. But i have to say that the article about the HSE published is very informative and helpfull (hence why i was saying i wouldnt have seen it if the irish catholic was not hacked!!). I am not standing up for the church far from it… read my comment a bit down the page too.
Haha, I love it…
@Mairead
Kind of ironic that the Irish catholic has an article on child abuse… Pot. Kettle. Black
The hackers will rot and burn in hell.
Not before anybody who hid the facts, abused kids and generally ignored the evil evil crimes in the catholic church.
On the scale of evil things to do the “hack” is up there will defacing a poster stuck on a ESB pole on the street.
I’m kinda proud of you, Louise: I had no idea you had such capacity for irony. You *were* being ironic, weren’t ya?
u mad?
A prayer for the faithful
Have your mice blessed! Satan just got an iPad!
O lord in your infinite wisdom grant us an impenetrable firewall,
On earth as it is in heaven,
Sendeth thou a mighty power surge to crasheth Lucifers DSL,
Let not the meek be denied their Daily surf,
For thou Tweeteth and spreads the word
Spameeth thou not, yet your followers are many
Let not denial of religious service lead us astray,
Back to Sky Sports Friendship or The Pub
and may you Reign in glorious zero contention
For thou art the one and only giver of bandwith,
Now and forever
Amen
I think a lot of people miss the point that there are a lot of Catholics out there who are fuming to the gills about the hypocrisy of the Church and how it failed them, and just like Enda Kenny (a Church going Catholic), they’re very vocal in condemning it. The Irish Catholic is not Pravda or Izvestia, and its journalists do criticise the Church when they feel it is stepping out of line. For example: http://www.irishcatholic.ie/site/content/compassionate-theology-failed-victims-david-quinn
It may not be as harsh or as condemning as secular news organisations, but it does not sing the praises of the Church either.
*hypocrisy of the Church hierarchy
*criticise the Church hierarcy
I’ve recently been told that “Church” refers to everyone from the pope to the laity and mass-goers.
@Joseph at least they are reporting the statistics of how bad the government is aswell as the churchs abuse… The people who write for that paper obviously see the affect its having on those victims and have done their best in reporting it. They have articles about the abuse the priests carried out too im sure. Its a religious paper. If people believe in religion they should have the right to it and if the HSE are not following through on the reports they as bad as they ABUSER!!! It ends up in a vicous cycle and lives will continue to be ruined if nothing is done. No i do not believe in a religion but I do understand why people would and they have every rigth to not have their religion destroyed. Both the HSE and the Vatican need to re-evaluate their morals and values, something major needs to be done to both
Holy Jebus!
"websites like that should be shut down" and so many likes ?? so say anything bad against the church and everyone agrees, wonder how many off the likers believe in free speech and freedom off the press,
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