THE NUMBERS ALONE stopped the country in its tracks this week.

2,395 allegations of sexual abuse of children in schools run by religious orders. 844 alleged abusers. 308 schools. 42 religious orders.

Ireland is no stranger to this type of revelation; we’ve been through it before with industrial schools, mother and baby homes and Magdalene laundries. We’ve read the Ryan report, the Murphy report, the McAleese report, the list goes on.

And now, a new scoping inquiry report by senior council Mary O’Toole examined schools previously or currently run by religious orders and found widespread allegations of abuse.

This week on The Explainer, we look at the findings of this report and ask, how are we back here again? Is Ireland alone in the scale at which children were not protected from abuse? And are we sure that enough has been done to prevent it from ever happening again?

We’re joined by Dr Joe Mooney, an assistant professor of social work at University College Dublin who has a specific focus on child protection, and our own News Correspondent Órla Ryan, who is also creator and presenter of the Redacted Lives documentary podcast series, which explored the stories of those who passed through mother and baby homes.

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This episode was brought to you by presenter Laura Byrne, executive producer Sinéad O’Carroll and senior producer Nicky Ryan.

Support is available

One in Four provides support for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse; you can call 01 662 4070 or email info@oneinfour.ie

An extensive list of support services, for people in Ireland and abroad, can be read here.