McAleese's 'sorrow' for abuse

Mary McAleese invited victims to her official residence

Ireland's President Mary McAleese has paid tribute to the courage of people abused as children in Catholic church-run institutions.

The President also expressed the country's "heartfelt sorrow" for what happened.

She was speaking on Sunday at a special reception for almost 300 victims of physical and sexual abuse.

John Kelly of Irish Survivors of Child Abuse said the reception had been "a very moving day for all concerned."

Mrs McAleese said: "The people of Ireland are desperately sorry for the many ways in which you were not cherished, in the abuse itself, in the silence, in the failure to act, in the failure to listen, hear and believe in time.

"In their name, I offer everyone here and all those whose little lives were robbed of the joys of childhood our heartfelt sorrow."

After a nine-year inquiry, a judicial report last month concluded that sexual, physical and emotional abuse was "endemic" in Ireland's industrial and reformatory schools, orphanages and other childcare institutions dating back to the 1930s.

The report shocked mainly-Catholic Ireland.

Its findings were described by Prime Minister Brian Cowen as "appalling beyond belief".