RELIGIOUS congregations responsible for abusing children in residential homes made €667 million in property deals between 1999 and 2009.

THE four religious congregations that ran the Magdalene houses in Ireland have agreed to help achieve justice for thousands of women who were forced to work in the laundries.

THE Catholic Church’s child protection tsar, Ian Elliott, was on the verge of resigning in the past year after a review of child protection standards in the country’s 26 dioceses was halted because the Church refused to co-operate.

WHY is the establishment media so hostile to radical new ideas in this beleagured country?

THREE months ago, the Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) published its assessment of abuses in the Magdalene laundries.

A FREE professional helpline for survivors of abuse, which has had its budget slashed by 25%, says it needs to expand its services to deal with thousands of unanswered phone calls.

The Magdalene laundry women have been boosted by a report from the Irish Human Rights Commission that calls for a statutory inquiry into the institutions, writes Claire O’Sullivan.

THE Justice for Magdalenes (JFM) advocacy group has said it is “greatly concerned” that CORI (The Conference of Religious of Ireland) has refused to meet and discuss the group’s campaign for an apology and a redress scheme for survivors of the Magdalene laundries.

OVER €2 billion could be generated by an overhaul of generous pension breaks for the wealthy and a levy on business profits, according to budget proposals drawn up by Social Justice Ireland (SJI).

DEAR MINISTER,

THE Controller and Auditor General must investigate how funds given to a Cork-based charity for survivors of institutional abuse were spent, Labour TD Sean Sherlock has said.

A NUMBER of religious orders have yet to submit details of extra contributions they propose making towards compensation for institutional child abuse victims.

A new social justice organisation committed to building a just society was formed today.

TWO high-profile members of Conference of Religious of Ireland (CORI) – Fr Sean Healy and Sr Brigid Reynolds – are to head a new organisation called Social Justice Ireland.

The Sisters of Charity are set to formally apologise today to the victims of child abuse in religious-run State institutions.

ANGRY exchanges punctuated the contribution of former Education Minister Michael Woods in the Dáil discussion of the Ryan Report, after he defended his role in securing the indemnity deal for religious orders.

THE Pope was “visibly upset” by the stories of clerical child abuse, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said yesterday, with an announcement from the Vatican on the Ryan Report now likely.

The Christian Brothers were reportedly continuing to deny that any abuse occurred in their institutions right up until the publication of the Ryan Report two weeks ago.

GROUPS representing child abuse victims have called on the Government to revisit “every” compensation case with a new expert advisory board.

Religious orders damaged the nation’s most vulnerable children and abused human dignity, Cori director Fr Sean Healy said today.

One of the Catholic church’s most high-profile campaigners today broke his week-long silence over the child abuse scandal to back calls for more victim compensation.

A leading figure in the Conference of Religious in Ireland has said the religious orders involved in the abuse of children must be prepared to consider giving more money to the Government's redress scheme.

ONE of the country’s largest religious orders has pledged to make more funds available to help former residents of its residential institutions who were abused while in care.

WE have been reminded more vividly than is comfortable of the great wrongs, the great hatreds festering in our past over recent days and weeks.

The Christian Brothers, the worst offenders in the clerical child abuse scandal, tonight bowed to intense pressure and agreed to look for a possible new deal to make amends to its victims.

Education Minister Batt O’Keefe has said he is hoping for “significant developments” on the issue of compensation for victims of child abuse in industrial schools.

The Labour Party has suggested that the Conference of the Religious in Ireland be excluded from the social partnership process if it is not prepared to renegotiate the indemnity deal on child abuse.

Religious orders responsible for decades of shocking child abuse tonight defied the country’s most senior Catholic clerics, rejecting calls to reopen talks on a capped victims’ compensation scheme.

THE Church showed the first signs of bowing to public pressure when senior figures said the religious orders should pay more to compensate abuse victims.

THE man who negotiated the controversial compensation deal for abuse victims said he stands by the agreement, as senior Church figures stand firm against plans to increase the amount of money it has to pay out.

YOU wouldn’t expect two middle-aged nuns to out bargain a senior minister and an experienced career civil servant, but that’s what the Government claims happened on the days leading up to May 16, 2002 .

THE Christian Brothers order, against which more allegations of abuse were made than all of the other male orders combined, said it was sorry, ashamed and saddened by the report’s revelations.

The religious lobby group CORI says yesterday's emergency Budget lacks a guiding vision and allows many of those who created the economic crisis to escape unscathed.

Government ministers have been ordered to make millions of euro worth of cuts in their departments ahead of next month’s emergency Budget, it was claimed today.

Social justice group Cori today set out a series of proposals for the Government to consider when devising its mini-budget due next month.

THE Government could look to save up to €6 billion in next month’s emergency budget — a dramatic escalation on previous estimates.

The religious group CORI has expressed concern about the Government's failure to draw up a comprehensive plan to tackle the economic crisis.

ONE of great mysteries of modern times is why the Government and, indeed, the employers, place such store in the partnership process.

ONE of the country’s leading social justice groups has demanded the Government tackle surging unemployment and the growing number of working poor.

IN his letter (January 24), Seamus Ó Niadh tries to understate the significance of clerical sex abuse of children by claiming these only represent 3% or 4% of child abuse cases.

BUDGET cutbacks which “hurt badly” contributed to Fianna Fáil’s disastrous performance in the latest opinion poll, which showed the party’s support at an all-time low, a senior minister has said.

Working poor and children were the worst hit in this year’s Budget, a leading anti-poverty charity claimed today.

Social campaign think-tank Cori Justice today called on the Government to create a fairer tax system, penalising the wealthiest people.

The Government has failed to really improve people’s well-being despite the economic boom, Catholic think-tank CORI will argue today.