Same, lame language casts poor reflection on Cowen leadership

THE grim shadow of clerical child abuse once again fell across the Dáil chamber during Leader’s Questions, but sadly, there were more questions than there was leadership on display.

Opposition figures repeatedly pressed the Taoiseach to articulate the national disgust at the revelations in the Murphy report and finally, unambiguously, say that bishops who colluded in allowing paedophile priests to not only escape punishment, but move on to other parishes to abuse again, should now quit their positions of power.

But Brian Cowen could not bring himself to do so as he deployed the same, lame language which merely called for “reflection” on the part of those singled out in the Murphy report for putting the interests of the Church ahead of the suffering of child rape victims.