A LEADING Irish bishop and a powerful Church watchdog body insisted last night that an emergency meeting has fully resolved an impasse over a probe into the handling of child abuse allegations.In a joint statement following urgent talks yesterday, the bishop of Cloyne, Dr John Magee, and National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) chairman, Aidan Canavan, confirmed they had reached broad agreement on a range of outstanding issues.
The emergency meeting was organised for 2pm yesterday after a furore erupted over the failure of the NBSC to obtain detailed child protection files from the diocese of Cloyne.
Diocesan officials had reacted furiously to suggestions they were not fully co-operating with the NBSC review of Cloyne's handling of at least three child sex abuse allegations against clerics in the Cork diocese.
Now, both the diocese of Cloyne and the NBSC insisted following the meeting that they were fully co-operating with the ongoing review.
"We confirm a meeting took place today (Monday) between Bishop Magee and representatives of the diocese of Cloyne and the chairman and the ceo of the National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) in the Catholic Church," a spokesman said.
Frank
"The meeting was frank and cordial. Agreement was reached on how the current review of child safeguarding practices should be progressed.
"Relevant documentation has been shared by the diocese with the NBSC. We have agreed to an ongoing working relationship with a shared commitment to the safeguarding of children within the Church," he said.
The diocese had earlier revealed it had met with the Health Service Executive and the NBSC over recent months in relation to the review -- and that a third NBSC meeting was not arranged simply because the board had availability issues.
However, One in Four last night insisted the controversy highlighted ongoing problems over the handling of abuse allegations.
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