There is a depressing sense of closing the stable door after the horse bolted about the new child protection standards drawn up by Hiqa, the health and social services watchdog.

LEADERS of the Philadelphia Archdiocese including two cardinals concealed sexual abuse by Catholic priests for four decades, a US grand jury has found, but no criminal charges can be brought against the church or its clergy because of the limits of state law.

Leaders of the Philadelphia Archdiocese including two cardinals concealed sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests for four decades, a US grand jury has found, but no criminal charges can be brought against the church or its clergy because of the limits of state law.