Debate On Child Abuse

Sir, - Kevin Myers seemed disappointed (An Irishman's Diary, August 13th) that there had been only one letter to the Editor following…

Sir, - Kevin Myers seemed disappointed (An Irishman's Diary, August 13th) that there had been only one letter to the Editor following his piece of July 31st about the former nun Nora Wall and Paul McCabe.

I would respond to Mr Myers if I could figure out what exactly he is trying to say. It could be that I am missing the point but, as the author of The God Squad, one of the first books to open the discussion on child abuse within institutions, I feel I am in a better position than Mr Myers will ever be to know what abuses people in the religious life are capable of.

Just as a point of information Kevin Myers might be interested in knowing that, following the publication of my book, I was accused on a radio programme of being "responsible for the collapse of the church in Ireland". - Yours, etc.,

Paddy Doyle, St George's Villas, Inchicore, Dublin 8.