It is fortunate that yesterday evening's planned protest to the presumed home of the convicted sex-abuse priest, Father Ivan Payne, who was released from jail recently, was called off at the last minute.
This was a protest that could have turned ugly, given the strength of feeling among some local people, just as much as it would have set a benchmark for future such occasions.
We live in a free society and while all people have a right to peaceful protest, no-one has a right to target an individual - no matter how heinous his or her crime - with a view to hounding them out of their area. Equally, however, while the Roman Catholic Church has a duty of care to one of its own - no matter how far fallen - it also has a duty to act responsibly, bearing in mind the interests and concerns of the wider community.
To an increasing degree, the Church is seeking to do so, after, it must be said, a series of shocking lapses - collective and individual - of both judgment and duty. The stated willingness of the Church to co-operate with any Government-ordered inquiry into sex-abuse priests is evidence of a changed attitude, albeit one forced upon it. There are still Canon Law recidivists who think the Church answers first to God and second, if at all, to man. It is clear, however, that the influence of such people is on the wane, at least within the Catholic Church in Ireland.
Under those same Canon Laws, the Church is obliged to provide accommodation and a basic income for its priests. Father Payne remains a priest. And it is perhaps better that he does: defrocked and returned to civilian life, his only legal obligation would be to register with the Garda within seven days of moving into accommodation. At least Father Payne, so long as he remains within the embrace of the Church, is likely to have a job with it and a circle of friends who can keep an eye on him. He should be found a home inside Church property.
About 80 sex offenders have been freed from jail this year. They have to live somewhere. If we give in to street rule, released offenders will merely disappear abroad or hide here. Far better that those who remain part of the Church live within its precincts. Non-clerical sex offenders are less likely to re-offend if they are not cut off totally from the rest of society after they have served their sentences. But the Government needs to consider legislation to put in place a framework of close monitoring that is more than a one-off registering with the gardaí.