Ahern visits shot Belfast priest

Father Creagh was shot at least twice last February

Irish premier Bertie Ahern is to visit a hospice in South Africa run by a priest from Belfast.

Father Kieran Creagh hit the headlines last year when he was shot twice during a robbery at the hospice he founded to help Aids sufferers in Johannesburg.

He subsequently had to undergo surgery to remove a bullet from his lung.

Mr Ahern is also due to meet South African President Thabo Mbeki in Pretoria on Tuesday on the second day of his visit to South Africa.

Father Creagh, who was the first person in Africa to be injected with a trial HIV vaccine, was made Irish International Personality of the Year in 2004.

He received the award after volunteering to try out the vaccine, despite being free from the virus himself.

Decade

The former Belfast priest has worked with Aids patients in South Africa for a decade and opened the Leratong hospice in 2004.

Father Creagh returned to his hometown after being shot to visit family and to recuperate.

Speaking to the BBC about his attackers during that time, he said: "I don't hold it against them - I forgive them."