Head of 'Moonies' due to visit Dublin

Head of the Moonies due to visit Dublin.

The Reverend Sung Myung Moon, the controversial head of the Unification Church, is likely to make his first visit to Dublin this month. Moon, who is on a speaking tour of Europe, has been invited here by the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace (IIFWP), an organisation which he founded and heads. The private meeting will take place in the Gresham Hotel at 6.30pm on 4 November. A spokesman for the IIFWP said: "we're hopeful the Reverend Moon will be at the meeting." When asked how hopeful, he said, "we can't say that he will definitely be here, but we would not be organising the meeting if we were not very hopeful that he will come." Members of the IIFWP have been informed of the likely visit.

"The IIFWP is not a Moonie organisation because it is open to all religions," he said. Moon founded the Unification Church in Korea in 1954 and is based in the US. Followers believe he is the Messiah. Critics accuse him and his organisation of brainwashing disciples and using the religion to make millions for himself. He has previously been imprisoned in the US on tax charges.

John Byrne