AS he has done so very often, Fr Peter McVerry yesterday put our latest round of hand-wringing about child protection services into a damming perspective.

BARRY ANDREWS is an elected public representative. As Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, he is the public face of child services.

THE country’s bishops last night asked for forgiveness following the publication of the Murphy report and admitted to being shamed “by the extent to which child abuse was covered up” in the Dublin Archdiocese.

THE author of the damning investigation into clerical abuse in the Diocese of Cloyne has applauded the Catholic Church for having undertaken “a truly remarkable” journey to a place where it could yet become a champion of child protection.

A senior Catholic Bishop has asked his congregation to pray for victims of clerical sex abuse as he stepped down to help a state inquiry probing allegations against some of his priests.

CHILD protection campaigners have said they fear bishops will still retain too much discretion over the information they hold about child sex abuse despite promises of new legislation intended to make it easy for them to open their files.

THE Bishop of Cloyne has described his decision not to give the name of an alleged child abuser to gardaí as “normal practice”, according to a report on alleged child abuse in his diocese.

DESPITE three separate allegations of sexual abuse, the Diocese of Cloyne did not report the priest at the heart of the allegations to gardaí and even considered returning him to full ministry.