Offaly native recalls being told the Third Secret of Fatima

In 1981 a defrocked Australian Trappist monk locked himself into the toilet of an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to London, doused himself with petrol and emerged to announce that if the Vatican would not immediately publish the Third Secret of Fatima he would set himself alight.

The Vatican refused, the plane was stormed and the hijacker was arrested.

Ten years later I was to learn the Third Secret in calmer, but equally bizarre, circumstances.

Together with a genial Londoner and a very knowledgeable Dutchman I had been tasked by the European Council of Town Planners with assessing EU funded urban regeneration schemes. Over the winter we had examined drawings, reports and models and had shortlisted five. Now we needed to see how they had panned out and in particular to establish that the money had been well spent.

Our first trip was to Denmark to examine the planning of the city of Køge. This was a model of sensitive development. Then on to Saarbrücken in Germany to be shown how real public consultation could be achieved. This excellent project was the eventual winner. Next we examined the rebuilding of the centre of Kalamata in Greece after an horrific earthquake and saw the little new squares that people could flee to were another to occur.

In each city we were met by the Mayor, given a tour of the works, provided with a good lunch and listened to many speeches lauding the ideals of the Union. Public banners were displayed acknowledging the source of the funding of the project. EU and national flags flew together. Lots of photos were taken. If we stayed overnight a fine dinner was laid on. All very good for our egos.

On our next visit to a regeneration project in the north of England we got a very different reception. After a quick tour followed by a cup of tea and a sandwich we were hustled onto the next train back to London. That was my first indication that the UK was not a fully committed member of the Union.

The final scheme was a dramatic proposal for the regeneration of the historic core of Punta Delgada, the capital of the Azores Islands, which had been submitted by a firm of internationally acclaimed urban designers.

Taking a very early morning flight out from Lisbon we were met off the plane by a very agitated President of the Regional Government.

Unfortunately there was nothing for us to see because the scheme was just on paper and the designers had submitted it without authorisation. The President had only heard of our inspection that morning and was in a rage. He apologised profusely and vowed that heads would roll. But, since we were here, the least he could do was to give us a personal tour.

And so we set off to discover the beautiful island of Sáo Miguel whose topography and landscape had echoes of Ireland in its tiny stonewalled fields and rolling hills but whose vegetation was lush and exotic.

Afterwards the President treated us to a magnificent lunch accompanied by delicious Verdelho wines; during which his profuse apologies continued. Towards the end I went to the toilet. The President followed me in and when the door closed behind us said,

‘Your wasted trip has been a terrible embarrassment for me and the least I can do is to give you a personal gift to try to apologise.

I expect that, being Irish, you are, like myself, a staunch Catholic so, unlike your two companions, you will understand the full significance of what I am about to tell you,’

He then went on to say,

‘Last year His Holiness Pope John Paul II spent a week on the Island resting after his visit to Brazil. We met for dinner and on the following day went for a long mountain hike together. As we trekked we had the most entertaining conversation during which he revealed the Third Secret of Fatima to me. I will now repeat it to you in the hope that in some way I might make up for your wasted journey.

And there, in the men's toilet of the Grand Hotel Atlantico, the President of the Regional Government of the Azores revealed to me the Third Secret of Fatima as disclosed to him by His Holiness John Paul II.

I might have drunk a lot of wine but as far as I can recollect, it had something to do with a valiant group of fifteen men in gold, white and green overcoming many defeats and setbacks but eventually winning a great victory and achieving everlasting glory.

But then, it was a long time ago and my memory isn't what it used to be.