That's how Cornelius 'Neil' Horan, the man who tackled the leader of the Marathon the other night, was described on ESPN's PTI last night. I've had quite a few e-mails from people asking me about him, so here's what I have found.
From what I can gather, until last year's stunt at Silverstone, when he ran out onto the track in the middle of a Formula 1 race, Fr. Horan was basically considered a harmless eccentric.
Fr. Horan was, supposedly, the inspiration for the dancing priest character on Fr. Ted (I heard this in a radio interview on Newstalk106 yesterday).
He is an 'agent of peace'in a troubled world who's basically trying to get us all to read the bible as the end is nigh. When he attacked the Brazilian runner, he was carrying a sign that said "The second coming is near, says the Bible".
His family wanted him jailed, but he was freed by the authorities in Athens.
There may also be a more unseemly side to his character as he's facing indecency charges, in relation to a matter involving a child under 16 years of age, according to the Irish Independent.
If you want to hear the man talk about what he was doing, you can hear him on today's edition of Liveline from RTE.
