Priest: Irish society 'morally bankrupt'

A prominent priest has said Irish society is "morally bankrupt".

Father Michael Mernagh said he supports the resignations of Bishops Donal Murray and James Moriarty in the wake of the Murphy report into clerical child abuse in the Dublin Archdiocese.

However he said that it is just the beginning and the Church needs to get back to basics and the Christian message.

Father Mernagh, an Augustinian Priest who undertook a walk of atonement from Cobh Cathedral to Dublin's Pro-Cathedral this year - as a result of clerical sex abuse - said "root and branch change is needed across society".