THE names of members of the Catholic Church in Ireland convicted of child abuse were published online yesterday.
More than 70 names of priests and religious brothers convicted or named in abuse enquiries appeared on a database of the independent organisation, BishopAccountability.org.
It said it believes that by making the list public it "makes children safer".
It has also called on Pope Francis to release the names of all priests - including Irish ones - who have been disciplined by the Church for child sexual abuse.
However, a number of names on the list have been redacted, with the organisation stating on its website that their "inclusion might be problematic".
Among those named are disgraced paedophile priest James Donaghy from Lisburn and former Co Down priest Daniel Curran, who has been convicted of abusing children.
The organisation has previously listed those convicted of abuse in the United States and south America. It said it believed that by publishing the names it "gives profound validation to victims".
It added: "While we bring this simple idea of a list to the Irish clergy abuse problem, we are painfully aware of what we as outsiders do not bring.
"We don’t have the anguished history of Irish survivors, or the deep knowledge of the Irish crisis that many visitors to this page will have," it stated.
"We hope that even the most learned among you will find the list a helpful way to reflect on clergy abuse in Ireland, but we also hope that you will advise us and help us make this database better."
It added that "we hope that this Irish database will encourage an open debate about how societies balance an accused person's privacy rights against a child’s right to be safe and the public’s right to know".
