IRELAND
The Sunday Times
Dearbhail McDonald
EAMON Walsh, the bishop of Ferns, was questioned last month by the inquiry into sexual abuse after it discovered certain files had not been forwarded by the diocese.
The files contained allegations against five priests that could not be investigated by the team because they were handed over just weeks before the report’s publication.
Walsh and his legal advisers attended an emergency plenary hearing convened by the inquiry on September 2.
The inquiry has concluded that the omission of the documents was the result of a “regrettable error” on the part of the diocese.
Walsh ordered an audit of diocesan files last July following a complaint by a woman who said she had been abused by two priests in the diocese.