Eamon Martin

In 2016, Martin expressed his support for a united Ireland saying "I do believe that Ireland should be one and I would like to work for that, and continue to work for that, by peaceful means and by persuasion, recognising that there are many people on this island who do not want that." He also said "To the extent I think the border between Northern Ireland and the rest of Ireland has become increasingly less important, I would like to see that trend continuing."

On 8 September 2014, with the retirement of Seán Brady, Martin became Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland. One press report at the time referred to Eamon Martin as a relative "unknown" in Rome with zero visibility in the Vatican.

On 18 January 2013, Martin was appointed as the Coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh. Martin said he was shocked when told of the appointment. "I am very conscious of the great trust that the Holy Father has placed in me, but in truth I have to admit it was with considerable nervousness and trepidation that I accepted his call," he said. Bishop Emeritus of Derry Edward Daly said that Martin was seen as "a clean pair of hands" after the church's abuse scandals. "He does not carry any baggage from the past with him," the bishop said.

On 21 April 2013, Martin received his episcopal consecration from Archbishop Seán Brady.

Martin said in an interview in 2013 that any legislator who clearly and publicly supports abortion should not seek to receive communion as legislators who support abortion are excommunicating themselves.

In 2013, Martin addressed the abuse scandals that have been exposed over the last two decades. "One of the greatest challenges facing our Church is to acknowledge, live with, and learn from the past, including the terrible trauma caused by abuse," he said.

Martin is also a director of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church – the body set up in the wake of widespread clerical abuse scandals in Ireland. On his appointment, he said one of the greatest challenges facing the church was to live with and learn from the past. He told a press conference in Armagh that the church "can never take it for granted that the safeguarding systems we have in place are robust and failsafe, so we have to keep working on that".

After this he served two years as Secretary-General of the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference before being recalled to his native diocese in 2010 to serve as Vicar General. When Bishop Séamus Hegarty resigned in November 2011, Archbishop Eamon Martin was elected as diocesan administrator. In 2011 he was appointed Chaplain of His Holiness.

On 28 June 1987, Martin was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Derry. After ordination he served as an associate pastor at the cathedral of the Diocese of Derry from 1987 until 1989. He was then appointed to the teaching of St Columb's College in Derry where he worked from 1990 to 1998. Martin continued his studies at St Edmund's College, Cambridge from 1998–1999 where he obtained a MPhil in school development. From 1999 until 2008 he served as President of St Columb's College.

Eamon Martin KC*HS (born 30 October 1961) is an Irish prelate of the Catholic Church who has been Archbishop of Armagh and the Primate of All Ireland since 2014.

Martin was born in Derry in 1961, one of 12 children. After his primary school education in St Patrick's, Pennyburn, County Londonderry, he entered St Columb's College, Derry. His priestly formation took place in St Patrick's College, Maynooth, where he graduated with a BD (Hons) in Theology and a BSc (Hons) in Mathematical Science from NUI Maynooth.