November 09, 2005

Senior church leaders to face new probe

IRELAND
Irish Independent

THE role of senior churchmen in dealing with allegations of child sex abuse in the Dublin diocese will come under scrutiny in a new investigation.

A statutory inquiry into child sex abuse in the country's largest diocese has been given a €5.7m budget for a major 18-month probe into victims' complaints and official cover-ups.

The Commission of Investigation, headed by Circuit Court Judge Yvonne Murphy, will examine cases in Dublin going back to 1975. But the Government has set its face against a "grand inquisition" which would cover the whole country.

A total of 67 priests of the Dublin archdiocese have allegations of abuse against them - three times the number of clerics the Ferns inquiry had to investigate.

Posted by kshaw at November 9, 2005 08:33 AM