The Best Catholics in the World: The Irish, the Church and the End of a Special Relationship
Derek Scally, £16.99, 352pp, Sandycove
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The Catholic Church in Ireland has been racked by scandals for my entire career as a journalist which began in 1994. That was the year when the terrible crimes of sexual abuse perpetrated by members of the Catholic clergy on children first erupted into public consciousness. These ignited enormous and understandable public anger, especially when it became clear that Church leaders covered up so much of what was going on. Since then, there has been official investigation into abuse in Catholic dioceses, the country’s industrial schools, Magdalene laundries and, most, recent, the mother and baby homes.
