A CHURCH in Scotland has been forced to apologise after publishing a page of Irish jokes in its parish magazine it admits were "the type you would have from Bernard Manning in the '70s".
A senior member of the Church of Scotland’s Fenwick Parish Church, near Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire, said the inclusion of the jokes in ‘The Covenant’ was an “error of judgement”.
Last night it emerged that the church has contacted the Irish consulate in Edinburgh to apologise.
Session clerk Kevin Wadsworth, who said the page of jokes were a "last minute filler and mistake", admitted they were akin to those told by the late Bernard Manning whose controversial jokes involved ethnic stereotypes.
“It’s the type of thing you would have from Bernard Manning in the '70s, it should never have been published in this day and time,” he said.
“We have apologised. It’s not a reflection of how anyone feels.”
The magazine is distributed free around the village of Fenwick and it includes church and community news.
However it is believed the controversy flared after one parishioner took exception to the tone of the jokes.
The section labelled “Irish humour” included references to Irish characters portrayed as stupid.
The Daily Record reported that one read: "An American lawyer asked Paddy: 'Why is it that whenever you ask an Irishman a question, he answers you with another question?’.
“‘Who told you that’, Paddy replied.”
Another said: ”Blaney phoned the maternity ward at the hospital.
‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Send an ambulance. My wife is going to have a baby!’
‘Tell me, is this her first baby?’ the intern asked.
‘No, it’s her husband.'
Mr Wadsworth confirmed that his church has contacted the Irish consulate in Edinburgh to apologise.
Consul General Mark Hanniffy last night said the apology has been accepted.
“It would have been better had the material not been published,” he said.
“It seems to have been an error on the part of the people who publish the magazine.
“The church has been in touch to offer an apology and it has been fully accepted and we consider the matter closed.”
