A new directive issued by Bishop of Meath Dr Michael Smith means that funeral eulogies including songs, poems and readings, that do not fall within religious guidelines, could be banned.

EVEN as their most senior leaders urged a fresh look at the child abuse indemnity deal which let religious congregations off lightly in terms of financial recompense, diocesan bishops displayed a marked reluctance to get involved in the controversy.

Three Church of Ireland bishops are to meet the Minister for Education tomorrow.

AS the families and friends of the five girls killed in last May’s tragic bus crash in Navan gathered to mark the first anniversary, the Bishop of Meath said the support of the local community had been invaluable.

The local community has quietly supported the families of the Navan bus crash victims over the last year, the Bishop of Meath said tonight.

THE Bishop of Meath Michael Smith was among those to offer his condolences to the family of Michael White and the local community yesterday.

Fitting seatbelts on all school buses by September is impossible, Education Minister Mary Hanafin said today.

A Cambridge University-educated protestant Bishop, who was at the forefront of sweeping changes which enabled women to be ordained, was elected as the Archbishop of Dublin today.

The Church of Ireland will today elect a new Archbishop for Dublin following the resignation of Walton Empey in July.

A Protestant priest who faced being defrocked for publicly stating he did not believe in the divinity of Christ tonight announced his resignation.

An Irish priest who said Christ was neither a saviour nor divine was today hauled before senior churchmen and accused of heresy.

A number of Catholic bishops have been confronted by an abuse victim outside today's extraordinary general meeting at St Patrick's College in Maynooth.