Teacher vetting - Predators must not slip through net

THE urgency of ensuring that children in this country get more robust protection against abuse has been given fresh impetus by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin’s call for an independent international commission of inquiry into the crimes of the notorious paedophile priest Fr Brendan Smyth.

Not alone would this give his victims some solace, it would serve the public interest by bringing the sordid story of abuse and the Church’s role into the light of day.

It is crucial, however, to guard against the archbishop’s initiative being hijacked to deflect public concern from the controversy surrounding Cardinal Seán Brady. Undoubtedly, his failure to inform parents in 1975, when he was a priest, that Smyth was abusing their children enabled the predator to continue raping them.