Like a baby laughing from the pit of its stomach, a good children’s choir can be the sound of innocence and something that can sneak a smile on even the most drily cynical face.

With good direction, it becomes a purity of sound that can stop you breathing.

And so it was in Midleton, Co Cork yesterday, as children from the town and its hinter- land were Confirmed.

This year, the Confirmation ceremony was somewhat different to previous years, as Bishop of Cloyne John Magee did not preside over the ceremony. Instead, it was Dean Eamonn Gould.

Bishop Magee had said he was overburdened with the workload stemming from the Dublin Archdiocese’s Commission of Inquiry into child protection practices in the diocese.

Hearing the children sing in unison, watching the dean raise his hands over the Confirmation candidates and then offer each of them a warm smile and a little word of congratulations before they marched back down the aisle beaming, you couldn’t help but feel the children’s bursting pride and sense of occasion.

You also couldn’t help but think — in light of the damning accusations stemming from the National Board for Safeguarding Children’s report — Bishop Magee could never have stood there surrounded by the children of the diocese. It would have insulted his congregation.

It was children like these that he was accused of putting at risk by not immediately reporting abuse complaints to gardaí or the HSE.

Confirmation day, like communion day, is all about the children. Yesterday, they sang, they decorated the church with their artwork and they hung garlands around the church grounds. They played the violin, tin whistle and the flute.

They sung their hearts out in the school choir and they brought their hopes and dreams into the Church in their prayers of the faithful.

It was also a day for parents as they watched another milestone being laid: their children becoming adult members of the Church. It was also a day when extended family members came from far and near to be sponsors or to enjoy a big day in the children’s lives.

"It was a lovely day today. It was lovely to have Dean Gould. He is a gentleman. I didn’t think anyone thought that we lost out by not having the Bishop," said one member of the congregation.

Another woman smiled and pretended to zip her mouth when I asked her how parents felt about Bishop John Magee not being here. "People here won’t want to say anything but there is relief that we weren’t made to feel uncomfortable. It would have been difficult to see him up there with them after everything that has happened. Today, we got to concentrate on the children instead. It was a lovely Mass wasn’t it?" she beamed.

Another said: "It was nice having the Bishop but we didn’t really know him. We know the Dean. He’s a lovely man and I think that really came across today."