A joint investigation by the Irish national broadcaster RTÉ and the Irish Mail on Sunday has revealed that the Vatican and Irish bishops did not notify the public that the reasons for the suspension from ministry of the late Bishop Eamonn Casey related to child sexual abuse allegations in both England and Ireland.

The public have long believed that the bishop’s suspension related to his relationship with American divorcée Annie Murphy, mother to his son Peter. The bishop, who spent much of his early priesthood in English parishes, resigned as Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh and as Apostolic Administrator of Kilfenora in 1992, after the media became aware of the relationship with Murphy.