IRELAND
Irish Examiner
By Ronan Mullen
“This is not the end. It is not the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps the end of the beginning.”
Winston Churchill's wartime quote is of some relevance, maybe, to Irish society and the Irish Catholic Church in the wake of the publication of the Ferns Report.
What is in the report is profoundly distressing to anyone concerned with the welfare of children or with the mission of the Catholic Church in Ireland.
Yet it is an important step in helping all sections of Irish society, including the Church, to work to prevent child sexual abuse.
The report sets out in a direct manner the abuse experienced by the children of Ferns. It assesses the handling of matters by diocesan authorities, the gardaí and the South Eastern Health Board.