David O'Hanlon

In 2006 O'Hanlon again made headlines when he criticized his fellow priests as being "defeatist". He wrote in The Irish Catholic that "From the results of 'The Irish Catholic' survey we seem rather at odds with the teachings of our own Church, above all concerning the very nature of the priesthood itself, but quite consistently in tune with popular opinion on subjects like feminism and ecumenism ... I am struck by the passivity, almost defeatism of the responses: we can't wait to cut Masses and resign school management. We demand an end to priestly celibacy yet admit getting rid of it would have no noticeable effect on the future of the institution."

O'Hanlon caused controversy when in an Irish Times article in 1997 he attacked Irish President Mary Robinson for her behaviour and attire during a visit to the Vatican. He accused Mary Robinson of:

The distinction between the two types of papal visit, state and non-state, is shown in the language used in describing such visits. The Catholic Press Office in Dublin, in listing papal engagements, describes state visits in the format State visit of French President Jacques Chirac (20 January 1996). In contrast non-state visits are variously described as audiences, someone being received by the Pope, or simply a visit. For example, Pope receives Lien Chan, vice president and prime minister of the Republic of China (14 January 1997), Visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (3 February 1997), Pope receives King Albert II and Queen Paola of the Belgians (15 May 1998). Robinson's visit on 10 May 1997 was described with the words Ireland's President Mary Robinson received by [the] Holy Father, clearly indicating it was simply an informal visit, in which she was visiting, and so being received by, Pope John Paul, not a formal state visit surrounded by all the ritual associated; visits to Peter's tomb, a large formal delegation, formal dress (black or otherwise), swapping of honours, state banquets, etc.

Ordained to the priesthood in 1995, O'Hanlon was appointed curate in the County Meath parish of Kentstown, near Navan. In 2007, he began research for a Doctorate in Sacred Theology in Rome.

Transferred to the Pontifical Irish College, Rome, he obtained a first class degree in theology at the Gregorian University in 1993, and a Licentiate of Sacred Theology, with specialization in Patristics from the Augustinianum in 1997. His thesis was entitled The Symbolum Antiochenum of 433: The Self Defeating Culmination of a Christological Novelty, and attracted much academic praise for its ground-breaking work.

O'Hanlon rose to public prominence in the 1990s due to a controversial interview he gave to Gay Byrne on RTÉ's The Late Late Show in which he disagreed strongly with members of the studio audience and a fellow Catholic priest, Iggy O'Donovan, who was on the panel. During the discussion (which the presenter extended, postponing other parts of the show, such was the ferocity of the debate), O'Hanlon controversially denounced another priest mentioned by a member of the audience as a "charlatan", a "fraud" and a "hypocrite".

He entered St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, as a clerical student for the diocese of Meath in 1987. He gained a double first class honours in Greek and Latin for his Bachelor of Arts degree.

Father David O'Hanlon (born 1969) is an Irish Roman Catholic priest and theologian. His attacks on the President of Ireland, members of the Irish hierarchy and fellow priests, and the Irish news media earned him notoriety. His critique of liberalism, drawing on some of the philosophical presuppositions of writers such Alasdair MacIntyre and Roger Scruton, has received praise and criticism in Ireland.

O'Hanlon was born in 1969 at Boyerstown, a village and townland near Navan, County Meath. He received his early education at the Boyerstown National School and at St. Patrick's Classical School in Navan.

O'Hanlon alleged that Robinson wanted to get herself turned away from the Vatican for being "improperly dressed". He even claimed there was precedent for a high-ranking woman visitor to the Pope being turned away for being improperly dressed, citing Paola of Belgium in the early 1960s.