The Bishop of Cloyne, Dr John Magee, has expressed surprise at newspaper reports that the Catholic Church's National Child Protection Office felt frustration at a lack of co-operation from the diocese in its investigation into allegations of sexual abuse by priests.
Last night the Diocese of Cloyne issued a statement in response to a story in yesterday's Sunday Tribune which said the chief executive of the church's child protection office Ian Elliott was "frustrated" at the slowness of the diocese in responding to queries about a number of complaints.
Mr Elliott was quoted in the Sunday Tribune as saying: "The national board for the safeguarding of children in the Catholic Church has been made aware of issues surrounding the handling of allegations of abuse within the Diocese of Cloyne.
"The board has not received the full information and documentation requested of the diocese. We are trying hard to resolve these difficulties and have sought an urgent meeting with the diocese to progress these matters further."
Last night in its statement, the Diocese of Cloyne said that Bishop Magee and other representatives had met Mr Elliot on two occasions. "These meetings were cordial and productive," said the statement, adding that Bishop Magee later wrote to Mr Elliott offering to meet him on either April 4th, 7th, 14th or 21st as well as promising to co-operate fully and provide him with access to all relevant files. Mr Elliott wrote back on April 14th, indicating that he was unable to fix a date for a meeting until after April 17th, and that he would be in contact to discuss other possible dates.
The Diocese statement said his comments were therefore "surprising". It added a meeting has now been scheduled for today.