Ian Elliott, the Catholic church’s own watchdog on child protection measures in Ireland, has detailed the policies now in place to prevent child abuse in several dioceses.

Is there anything to be said for saying another Mass? A real-life Bishop Brennan is encouraging people to pray to put an end to our soggy summer.

On Monday an Irish teenager begins chemotherapy ahead of a life-changing stem cell operation later this month.

IF I had any influence with the powers that be in RTÉ, I’d get them to re-institute what was once a wonderfully reliable element of pre-Christmas radio broadcasting: something that used to happen on Christmas Eve, EVERY Christmas Eve, around mid-morning or lunchtime, if I remember rightly.

Dr Martin has not been open about the plan to pay abuse compensation with parish funds, writes Michael Kelly.

THE diocese of Cloyne has said it has “no plans” to use church basket collections to pay damages to victims of clerical sex abuse in civil cases.

The Court of Criminal Appeal has upheld the six-year sentence imposed on a legally blind man who strangled a 60-year-old after calling to his apartment to service his computer.

PRIESTS in the diocese of Ferns are being asked to hand over €1,000 each towards the payment of compensation bills to clerical abuse victims.

A NEW law which will give people in long-term relationships many of the statutory rights of married couples is expected to be on the statute books before the summer.

I THOUGHT I was looking at a script of an unaired episode of Father Ted when I read that Bishop Denis Brennan wants parishioners to pay remaining monies owed as a result of compensation claims for sexual abuse in the diocese of Ferns.

SINGER Sinead O’Connor took to the airwaves yesterday to voice her disgust at Bishop of Ferns Denis Brennan’s suggestion that parishioners could contribute towards abuse settlements and legal fees.

THE Diocese of Killaloe has not ruled out the possibility of its parishioners being asked for financial contributions towards clerical abuse compensation payouts, as is happening in Ferns.

CLERICAL abuse victims pointed the Bishop of Ferns, Denis Brennan, towards the Vatican when they heard about his appeal to parishioners to fund outstanding diocesan compensation and legal fees.

Bishop of Ferns Dr Denis Brennan has invited the people of the diocese to help raise money for compensation payments to survivors of paedophile child abuse in the diocese stretching back to the 1940s.

A Catholic bishop in charge of an Irish diocese plagued by sex abuse scandals and cover-ups has asked parishioners to help fund compensation, it was confirmed today.

The Bishop of Ferns is turning to the parishes in his diocese to help meet the cost of clerical abuse claims.

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin tonight rejected claims a Vatican summit to discuss clerical abuse scandals in Ireland was a wasted opportunity.

A blind man has been sentenced to six years in prison by the Central Criminal Court for strangling a 60-year-old whose computers he was servicing.

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.

ALL clergy working with children should volunteer for Garda vetting in the wake of the clerical sex abuse scandal in Cloyne, Minister for Children Barry Andrews has said.

CHILD abuse claims have cost the Diocese of Ferns more than €8 million, the bishop of the diocese, Dr Denis Brennan, has confirmed.

A man was today remanded in custody after being charged with the murder of a separated father at his apartment in Dublin.

Gardaí in Dublin are today continuing to detain a man in his 30s in connection with the death of Denis Brennan last week.

A man has been arrested in connection with the death of Denis Brennan in Kilmainham in Dublin earlier this week.

Gardaí investigating the murder of Denis Brennan in Dublin earlier this week are appealing to taxi drivers who were in the Kilmainham area to come forward.

GARDAÍ believe a father of three found dead on his living room floor was strangled.

A senior garda today described as most unusual the circumstances surrounding the murder of a separated father in his apartment.

Gardaí have launched a murder investigation following the discovery of a man's body in Dublin yesterday morning.

IN A Wexford village silenced by the death of a family, it was the innocent classmates of murdered Mark and Julie Flood who tried to articulate the enormity of emotions involved.

THE Bishop of Ferns has compared the suffering of child abuse victims in the diocese to the crucifixion of Christ.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern has welcomed Pope Benedict’s comments on child sex abuse by priests in the Diocese of Ferns despite the reservations of child protection campaigners about the timing and content of the Vatican’s response.

A DIOCESE that was at the centre of a clerical child sex abuse scandal was yesterday celebrating the appointment of its new bishop.

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Dr Denis Brennan as the new Bishop of Ferns.

CYCLIST Denis Brennan almost bled to death in an accident while preparing for the Munich Olympics in 1972 but a nurse saved his life thanks to some quick thinking.

CLERICAL sex abuse victims were angered by weekend claims that a diocese rocked by scandals has dealt with cases “expeditiously and well.”