Stephen McElligott is furious with Cormac Flynn, a 29-year-old web designer from Faughart, who set up Countmeout.ie in the wake of revelations about child abuse in religious institutions in the Ryan Report.

Countmeout.ie provides information on how to formally defect from the Catholic religion and also enables people to air their opinions on the Ryan Report and the relationship between church and State.

"Mr Flynn is using the ' your church has sinners' argument and it is a fallacious one. I do not judge my Catholic church on the conduct of its members, but whether or not it teaches me truth in accordance with sacred scripture and tradition," said Mr McElligott.

"Many policemen, businessmen, lawyers and school teachers across the globe commited the same crimes. Is Mr Flynn going to open a website helping everyone to officially leave school too?"

Mr McElligott added: "I pray that many Catholics see through Mr Flynn's deceiving website and use their common sense in order to remain in the Catholic church because as you will read in the cathechism, outside her there is no salvation."

According to Cormac Flynn, the Ryan Report provoked him and two friends to set up Countmeout.ie, but it's not the primary reason why people defect.

"I hear what he's saying. There's a lot of blame to go around but is he suggesting that because lots of people have done terrible things that we shouldn't do anything?" he said.

"We're not aiming the website at committed Catholics. It's for people who already consider themselves to be outside the church and want to make it official."

tamara@dundalkdemocrat.ie