Pat Sweeney was attending mass in Ireland when police raided the church. Under a law passed in October, 2020, people cannot gather indoors, including for worship: “Priests will be committing a criminal offence if they open the doors of their churches for Mass."
One parishioner, Pat Sweeney, recorded video of police shutting down mass service that went viral. He is a widower with two children, ages 5 and 11. Within one week, police broke down his door in the middle of the night at 3:30 am without a warrant, claiming that someone had reported that he was mentally ill. His children were taken away from him into foster care, and Pat was taken into custody. He was later released after a doctor deemed him mentally sound, but no one was able to let him know where his children are. As of May 5, 2021, he has spent the last 3 days looking for them.