Covid-19: Irish Catholic Church leader meets government over Mass ban Published image captionArchbishop Martin accused the government of acting in a draconian manner The leader of the Irish Catholic Church has met with the Irish government to discuss what he calls a "draconian" ban on public Mass. Archbishop Eamon Martin said he shared his concerns over the "criminalising" of leading public worship. It comes as the Irish Department of Health confirms that three cases of the Indian Covid-19 variant have been detected in the Republic. At least two of those were related to travel, reports RTÉ. image copyrightPacemaker image captionA priest celebrating an online Mass in an empty church during the first lockdown last year