IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph
By Michael Lavery
01 November 2005
More than 140 priests in four dioceses have been accused of sex abuse but more revelations could be on the way as the scandal rocks the Catholic Church in Ireland.
The Ferns inquiry involved 21 priests, but since the report's publication, dozens more allegations have been confirmed by bishops.
They include Dublin (67 priests), Derry (26) and Tuam (27).
Some of the allegations go back to the 1940s, but the diocese in Tuam could turn out to be "on a par" with Ferns, given the similarity of the population of each diocese, said Colm O'Gorman, director of One in Four, a charity for sex abuse victims.
Mr O'Gorman said he found it remarkable that the bishops were only now making these figures available, even though in some cases they were available for the last 50 years.
In Tuam, eight clerics have left the priesthood after a "reasonable suspicion" that child abuse had taken place was established.