NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph
By Sarah Brett
03 February 2006
Top-level talks will take place next week between Catholic church leaders and police chiefs as part of a probe into the scale of clerical sex abuse in Northern Ireland.
The meeting comes as the Government today confirmed it has not ruled out an independent public inquiry into paedophile priest allegations.
In the latest of a series of private meetings, health chiefs and the PSNI are due to meet senior figures from the Catholic church on Monday to assess the situation before reporting to the Secretary of State Peter Hain.
On January 17, legal representatives of the Church met separately with the PSNI. The Church has agreed to supply relevant information on allegations of clerical child sex abuse to the police.
DUP Assemblyman, David Simpson, has lobbied for a probe since last year and said today: "I believe we'll get it."