Never mind Brady, Martin's resignation is the one that really matters.

[CiaranMc]

Whether Brady stays or goes - who gives a ****? As the ever brilliant Patsy McGarry argued today, "it doesn’t matter anymore. It is too late."

If Diarmuid Martin was to resign, though, I think that would be momentous - we'd finally have a senior member of the Catholic church in Ireland saying 'enough is enough'.

Listening to him on the news tonight I suspect he's close to resigning, but who knows?

He strikes me as an inherently good man who is sincerely shocked by what is going on around him and, despite his denials, it seems that he is being ostracised by the rest of the Irish hierarchy - and Vatican? That, needless to say, reinforces his standing: any enemy of the Irish hierarchy and the Vatican is probably a good friend to us plain old sinners.

So, whether Brady stays or goes - who cares? He'll only be replaced by a creature from the same school. How about Christopher 'it's a witch hunt!!' Jones?

I took my elderly mother to a church today because she wanted to buy a couple of mass cards and say a few prayers. For the first time I waited for her outside, I couldn't bear to go in to the place. The sight of any Catholic church these days makes me feel sick.

If Diarmuid Martin had the courage to resign it would restore my faith a little. True, it would mean there would literally be no one left in the Irish hierarchy with even a smidgeon of integrity - but that's the point. They would well and truly be marooned on their island of shame.

So, yeah, resign Diarmuid Martin - even if you're the only one who should actually retain your 'post'.

What do you think?

[TommyO'Brien]

Whether Brady stays or goes - who gives a ****? As the ever brilliant Patsy McGarry argued today, "it doesn’t matter anymore. It is too late."

If Diarmuid Martin was to resign, though, I think that would be momentous - we'd finally have a senior member of the Catholic church in Ireland saying 'enough is enough'.

Listening to him on the news tonight I suspect he's close to resigning, but who knows?

He strikes me as an inherently good man who is sincerely shocked by what is going on around him and, despite his denials, it seems that he is being ostracised by the rest of the Irish hierarchy - and Vatican? That, needless to say, reinforces his standing: any enemy of the Irish hierarchy and the Vatican is probably a good friend to us plain old sinners.

So, whether Brady stays or goes - who cares? He'll only be replaced by a creature from the same school. How about Christopher 'it's a witch hunt!!' Jones?

I took my elderly mother to a church today because she wanted to buy a couple of mass cards and say a few prayers. For the first time I waited for her outside, I couldn't bear to go in to the place. The sight of any Catholic church these days makes me feel sick.

If Diarmuid Martin had the courage to resign it would restore my faith a little. True, it would mean there would literally be no one left in the Irish hierarchy with even a smidgeon of integrity - but that's the point. They would well and truly be marooned on their island of shame.

So, yeah, resign Diarmuid Martin - even if you're the only one who should actually retain your 'post'.

What do you think?

Martin is a seriously impressive guy. John Paul II was notorious for appointing dunces as diocesan bishops, mainly because he insisted that his bishops never have questioned anything. No matter how loyal and orthodox you were in later life, if you ever questioned anything in your younger days JPII blackballed you. When Martin was sent to Ireland it was a breath of fresh air because you suddenly have a premier league player being sent in to a hierarchy in Ireland of Vaxhall Conference standard. They resent the fact that he is clearly light years ahead of them in ability.

As to feeling alienated from the Church, I grew up highly religious, but became alienated from it in the mid 1990s. But even though I was not a Mass goer I still had some sense of identification with it. Yesterday I did something I never imagined even thinking of. I began to consider actually formally resigning once and for all from it, and joining the Church of Ireland. That had been unthinkable before now. Now it is.

[Congalltee]

Why are people talking about Brady's resignation?
He should be investigated by the Civic Guards, for
1. Administering an oath to prevent a crime being reported. Offences against the State Act.
2. Failing to report a serious offence to the gardai.
3. Conspiracy to pervert the course of Justice.

Anyone with sufficient information can initiate an investigation by making a complaint in any garda station.(eg the one against willie o'dea). The best evidence is usually the suspect's own statement..

[TradCat]

In terms of alienation it is for me the realisation that we are not talking about bad people in a good institution but clearly a bad institution.

The schools are the key. The Catholic Church today is not fit to be involved in the education of our children. They must be cleared out bag and baggage. Fianna Fail won't do it of course which is another good reason for not voting for them.

[locke]

I'm not at all religious. I was brought up in a mixed religious household and haven't been to any form of worship for 20 years. So, essentially, I'll speak on this as a neutral outsider.

Martin resigning would be seriously bad for the Catholic Church.

When the attitude of almost all other members of the hierarchy has been to cover up and to protect the positions of those accused, Martin as both captured the public mood and done the morally correct thing.

If the Catholic Church is to have a future, it needs leadership from those who put doing the right thing before personalities and short-term protection of finances and power.

While Martin's resignation might satisfy those who want to kick the bastards, so to speak, it would probably be counter-productive.

[Aindriu]

In terms of alienation it is for me the realisation that we are not talking about bad people in a good institution but clearly a bad institution.

The schools are the key. The Catholic Church today is not fit to be involved in the education of our children. They must be cleared out bag and baggage. Fianna Fail won't do it of course which is another good reason for not voting for them.

There you have hit the nail on the head. Since its inception, the RCC has been a bad institution. Like all formal religions it is based on heresay with no scientific evidence to substantiate its claims.

It is an agent of social control and was effective for 2000 years at doing just that. It managed to keep a population in Ireland cowed and subservient and living in terror of being excommunicated or sent to eternal damnation. Priests were looked up to as almost god-like creatures who were the fonts of all knowledge and could do no wrong.

Well no more! The people are finally throwing off the yoke of enslavement and demanding answers. In Germany the RCC is imploding just like here. France will follow soon for the same reasons.

[Toland]

While Martin's resignation might satisfy those who want to kick the bastards, so to speak, it would probably be counter-productive.

Only for the RCC imo. Why would anyone outside of that institution worry about that?

[locke]

Only for the RCC imo. Why would anyone outside of that institution worry about that?

Personally, I care very little. But, hell, my day to day job involves advising people about how to do things that I care very little about personally. I can't snap out of that mode.

[White Horse]

What do you think?

I think you won't be satisfied until all churches are converted into temples of satanism or brothels, and Catholics are forced to "de-indoctrinise" in re-education camps.

[Toland]

I think you won't be satisfied until all churches are converted into temples of satanism or brothels, and Catholics are forced to "de-indoctrinise" in re-education camps.

I can see you'd have reason not to be pleased about the re-education camps, but what's wrong with temples satanism and brothels, if they're well and fairly run?