Connell offers olive branch to victims

A PLANNED protest march by victims of clerical child sex abuse to demand the resignation of Catholic Cardinal Desmond Connell was called off last night after fresh assurances by the cardinal that he would do all he could to end the scourge of paedophile priests.

In an unprecedented show of solidarity with victims, Cardinal Connell invited two of their representatives to take a prominent role in influencing how his archdiocese handled the issue in future.

The olive branch was offered after a five-hour meeting between the cardinal, Bishop Eamonn Walsh and victims Marie Collins and Ken Reilly, who had planned to lead a silent march to the cardinal's Dublin residence this Sunday to insist that he resign over his failures adequately to deal with victims' concerns.