Reports and links include – The Mahon Tribunal; Recession returns to Irish economy; Govt not entitled to cut school chaplain funding; New standards of child protection; Minister’s snub to education reform plan; No change to gay adoption law advocated in N Ireland; Priest in court; Bishop responds to abuse allegations; Holyland student housing report
Mahon Tribunal – Key Findings
RTE News –
http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0322/mahontribunal_keyfindings.html
Mahon Tribunal – Damning verdict on our political culture
Judge Alan Mahon’s verdict on corruption in Irish politics could not be more damning — it was deep rooted, rampant, and permeated every level.Judge Mahon asked why political corruption — an open secret in the late 1980s and early 1990s — was allowed continue unabated.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/damning-verdict-on-our-political-culture-188124.html
Mahon Tribunal – Party moves to expel Bertie Ahern
Irish political party Fianna Fail says it will seek to expel former leader and prime minister Bertie Ahern in the wake of the Mahon Tribunal.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17484110
Mahon Tribunal – ‘I feel betrayed’: Political figures respond to findings
TheJournal.ie – As the major parties digest the implications of the Mahon report, here’s what their members (and others) have been saying on the side…
http://www.thejournal.ie/%e2%80%98i-feel-betrayed%e2%80%99-political-figures-respond-to-mahon-tribunal-findings-392769-Mar2012/
OTHER NEWS
Recession returns as Ireland’s economic output falls again
TheJournal.ie – Irish economic output has declined for two successive quarters – meaning Ireland is technically back into a recession.
http://businessetc.thejournal.ie/cso-gdp-gnp-recession-double-dip-economic-growth-392430-Mar2012/
Govt not entitled to cut school chaplain funding
RTE News –
http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0323/chaplains.html
New standards for protection and welfare of children launched
TheJournal.ie – Members of the public are being asked for their opinions on the proposed new national standards, which are for the protection and welfare of children in Ireland.
http://www.thejournal.ie/new-standards-for-protection-and-welfare-of-children-launched-392856-Mar2012/
Report into 115 child deaths to reveal ‘harrowing’ findings
Irish Times – An independent report into the deaths of children in care is understood to reveal significant and repeated failures by State authorities to adequately protect the welfare of 115 vulnerable children who died over a 10-year period.
The report, due to be published in the coming weeks, will provide the first definitive account of how the State interacted with these children and the extent to which they were cared for or failed by the State. It is expected to call for independent inquiries into a number of cases where there were major failures or where authorities were unable to produce sufficient documentation on how cases were handled. The scale of the State’s failure in many cases may raise the spectre of potential legal actions by some families against authorities over the handling of individual cases.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2012/0322/1224313703984.html
Minister snubs key education reform plan
Independent – EDUCATION Minister Ruairi Quinn has ignored top-level advice to cut the size of a key education group. He recently appointed seven new members to the Higher Education Authority (HEA), which maintains the number on the board at 19.
http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/education/latest-news/minister-snubs-key-education-reform-plan-3054814.html
‘No change’ to gay NI adoption law
BBC – The current ban on gay and unmarried couples should remain in place until the Stormont Assembly decides otherwise, the Attorney General has said. John Larkin, QC, said adoption laws were to ensure child welfare rather than satisfy the wishes of would-be parents. Mr Larkin was representing the Department of Health in a legal challenge brought by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. The body is attempting to force a legislative change which would bring adoption laws into line with the rest of the UK.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-17474270
Priest to stand trial for assault
BBC – A priest is to stand trial in relation to a number of alleged sexual assaults against a woman, dating back more than 20 years.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-foyle-west-17480715
Bishop defends role in sex case
BBC – A retired Catholic bishop defends his handling of some of the abuse allegations made against James Donaghy, a former priest jailed for ten years for a series of sex crimes.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-politics-17476202
Holyland report says student housing needed elsewhere in Belfast
BBC – An independent report into Belfast’s Holyland area is expected to recommend that more student housing is provided elsewhere in the city. The study was commissioned by Belfast City Council in 2010 and is due to be published on Tuesday.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-17476200