Clerical child abuse survivors have again called on Cardinal Sean Brady to resign following the revelation that he attended meetings at which victims of Brendan Smyth were asked to swear an oath of secrecy.
Speaking today shortly after the cardinal rejected calls to step down, abuse victim Marie Collins also urged the Government to extend the Murphy Commission's remit to every diocese in the country.
"We have heard Cardinal Brady talk so many times on this issue and transparency. He never once mentioned being involved in the Brendan Smyth case," said Ms Collins, speaking on RTE radio.
"How many other children had to sign oaths of secrecy, how many other abusers were protected in this way? We don't know but there's got to be many of them out there and the only way to find them is with a full State inquiry into every diocese. We can't let the church legislate for itself any longer," she added.
Fr Kevin Hegarty, who was one of the first priests to publicly challenge the church's handling of clerical sexual abuse, called on Cardinal Brady to reflect on his position.
The Labour Party called for a Garda inquiry into Dr Brady's role in the Fr Smyth case.
The party's spokeswoman on Social and Family Affairs, Roisin Shortal said the cardinal was "hopelessly compromised by what had emerged."
"It is bad enough that children should have been abused by a priest but it is almost beyond belief that these children should also have been required to take an oath that they would not disclose the abuse to anyone," she said.
I believe that there should be a Garda investigation to determine whether or not the failure to report Fr. Smyth's crimes to the civil authorities was, itself, a criminal offence. I am advised that the administering of an oath requiring these children not to disclose the abuse to anyone else may also have constituted an offence," Ms Shortall added.
Elsewhere, Rape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI) director Fiona Neary said Cardinal Brady's position was now untenable and called for him to resign immediately.
“Cardinal Brady is personally implicated in collusion with clerical child sexual abuse," she said.
Meanwhile, the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) demanded an end to what it called, "the shameful saga of repeated cover ups of child sexual abuse in the church."
"We believe we now need enquiries into all dioceses in Ireland on the church's handling of allegations of child sexual abuse. It is the only way to effectively call a halt," said Ellen O'Malley-Dunlop, chief executive of the DRCC.
