A priest in Northern Ireland has promised his parishioners that his homilies will no longer last more than five minutes.

Fr Paddy O’Kane, writing for Derry Now, made the vow after he heard several “short, sharp” sermons while sitting in the pews during a trip to Texas.

He said many priests, “including myself, are under the illusion that our homilies are more interesting than they really are”.

He said: “A wise old priest once told me: ‘If you cannot strike oil in the first five minutes, better stop drilling.’”