Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin

A long-awaited report into how church authorities handled allegations of abuse in the Dublin archdiocese is expected to be published by justice minister Dermot Ahern next Thursday.

This follows last week's decision by High Court judge Paul Gilligan to sanction the release of the report, subject to further deletions in addition to those he announced on 15 October last.

It will severely criticise successive senior archbishops and bishops in the archdiocese for failing to stop clerical abusers from continuing to offend, frequently opting instead to move them on to other areas.

It will also strongly criticise state authorities including An Garda Síochána.