Statement expected from second under-fire bishop

A second Bishop is signalling he will resign in the wake of the Murphy Report.

Bishop Jim Moriarty of the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin is to issue a statement later today, in which he is expected to say he will stand down if it will serve the church, the victims of abuse and the people.

However Bishop Moriarty is also expected to highlight the fact that he was not personally criticised by the report into clerical abuse in the Dublin Archdiocese.

Earlier the Bishop of Limerick Dr Donal Murray confirmed to his congregation that his resignation had been accepted by the Pope.

Dr Murray had been under pressure to go since the publication of the Murphy Report, which found his mishandling of clerical abuse allegations was "inexcusable".