Church must obey law of the land, warns Ahern

CHURCH law cannot be allowed to hamper Garda investigations into allegations of child abuse by priests, the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said last night.

Mr Ahern was speaking after the Government appointed former Supreme Court judge, Mr Justice Frank Murphy, to head an inquiry into clerical abuse allegations in Co Wexford. The Taoiseach said the Government will decide within days what form of investigation will tackle the widespread allegations of similar abuse in Dublin and other centres.

Government officials brushed aside suggestions by some senior church lawyers that they may not be able to give all relevant documents to the non-church investigators. And the Taoiseach told the Dáil that he expected nothing less than full co-operation from all including church authorities.