A Catholic priest who previously made headlines over a pornographic images incident more than a decade ago has returned to ministry after being cleared in a separate safeguarding investigation.

Fr Martin McVeigh, parish priest of Clogherhead, Co Louth, stepped aside in 2024 while the Archdiocese of Armagh carried out an internal and statutory investigation.

The Archdiocese confirmed the case was “closed with no further action to be taken” and that Fr Martin returned to public ministry on 21st September 2025.

A spokesperson said: “The Parish Priest and the Archdiocese of Armagh cooperated fully with the statutory authorities responsible for investigating such matters.

"Following a full investigation by the relevant authorities, the case was closed with no further action to be taken.”

They added that the Church’s own procedures also concluded “no further action was to be taken.”

Fr Martin previously apologised in 2012 after pornographic images of men appeared during a First Holy Communion parents’ meeting at St Mary’s Primary School in Pomeroy, Co Tyrone, as reported by The Irish News US.

He said at the time the images were shown “inadvertently” from a memory stick and that he “deeply regretted” not checking the presentation in advance.