Fr. Michael Sinnott

The Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin confirmed that Fr Michael Sinnott had been freed.

The 79-year-old missionary, a member of the Irish Columban Fathers, was abducted from his gated compound in Pagadian City on the island of Mindanao about 500 miles south of Manila on October 11 but because of his serious heart condition, there were grave concerns for the County Wexford native's health.

After his release, which followed a total of 32 days in captivity, Fr. Sinnott was immediately given a full medical check-up.

Irish foreign affairs minister Micheál Martin has since said no ransom had been paid for the release of the priest.

"I am personally delighted and relieved to relay the news that Fr. Michael Sinnott has been freed by his captives and handed over to the Philippine authorities," Martin said.

"The release of Fr. Michael represents the successful conclusion of a major diplomatic effort by the Irish and Philippine governments. As in previous kidnaps, no ransom was paid by the Irish government. To do so would only have jeopardized the vital work of aid workers and missionaries around the world, it would also place other Irish citizens in danger."

Sinnott was seized by six gunmen on the southern island of Mindanao. The raiders reportedly duped staff at Columban House, home to 47 missionaries, to gain entry and captured the priest as he was strolling around the gardens.

Fr. Sinnott had spent the past four years running a school for children with hearing difficulties and has lived in the Philippines since 1976.

Shortly after Sinnott's capture, Philippine troops and navy gunboats tried to encircle the kidnappers to pressure them to release him.

At the start of November, the kidnappers released a video in which Sinnott said €1.36m, or $2 million had be paid for his release.

Following his release, Fr. Sinnott told RTE that he was planning to return to his missionary work.

"In the immediate future I hope to stay on here in the Philippines to go back to do my work. I don't know what the superiors are going to say about that, but that is my own wish," he said.

A statement from the Columbans, who are based at Dalgan Park in County Meath, said that the order appreciated the important role played by the media - print and electronic - in sympathetically covering the abduction and subsequent release of Fr. Sinnott.

"We believe that this sustained coverage by the media, helped in no small way in bringing the kidnapping to a peaceful resolution. As missionaries, we knew from the previous kidnapping of the late Fr. Desmond Hartford (1997) and the late Fr. Rufus (2001) that the kidnapping could have ended in great pain or even death. A happy ending, without violence or any loss of life, was our fervent wish and prayer, the statement, issued by Fr. Malchy Smyth, the order's communications coordinator, said.

"We are also grateful that the media brought to the attention of the Irish people the sterling service that Fr. Michael and missionaries like him have given in economically poor communities in Asia, Africa and Latin America for decades.

You highlighted his courage and work for the 'disappeared' during the years of the Marcos dictatorship, and his current ministry supporting a charity for children with special needs in Pagadian City," the statement added.

The Irish Columban Fathers have worked in Asia for many decades and a number of them were killed during the 1950-53 Korean War. They are commemorated on the Irish in Korea website at www.illyria.com/irishkor.html.