On April 10th of this year, the Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Luis Montemayor, together with the five bishops of the Western province, announced to a group of people assembled for their regular weekday Mass in Tuam Cathedral that, after 900 years, two dioceses, Achonry and Killala, would be merged with neighbouring dioceses. Obviously, this came as a shock to those present in the congregation, but as a greater shock to the people and priests of the dioceses concerned, none of whom had been invited to attend.