where john oak tree near the spot wherejohn paul ii oak tree near the spot wherejohn paul ii planted a tree on his visit to ireland in 1979. he is accompanied by the irish president at his official residence in phoenix park in the city. i'll be bringing you all the latest live from dublin. and i'm shaun ley — the other headlines this hour... women in england are to be allowed to take the second of two early abortion pills in their own homes instead of in a clinic. holiday—makers arrive home after being flown back early from an egyptian hotel, following the unexplained deaths of a british couple. thousands of rohingya muslim refugees have taken part in a demonstration marking one year since their exodus from myanmar, following a military crackdown. the family of nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, a british—iranian woman imprisoned in iran on spying charges, are fighting

for her three—day temporary release to be extended. it's always been steps forward and steps back, so we shouldn't get too ahead of ourselves. but hopefully, it will be a good day today and tomorrow. and later, we'll be visiting america's first sustainable solar—powered town and going down under to see how technology is being used to protect the world's largest coral collection at the great barrier reef. that's in click. hello and welcome to dublin castle

as pope francis begins his two—day visit to ireland, the first visit by a pope to the country for nearly a0 yea rs. a pope to the country for nearly a0 years. 1979 myjohn paul ii, that was the last time we have a papal visit to ireland. pope francis arrived at dublin airport a little earlier. he was greeted by archbishops and by a government representative, the deputy prime minister, and he is now at the residence of the irish president, michael higgins, aras an uachtarain, in dublin's phoenix park. pope francis in the last few moments has planted an irish oak tree in the park wherejohn planted an irish oak tree in the park where john paul planted an irish oak tree in the park wherejohn paul ii planted an oak tree almost four decades ago. this is a visit that is going to be dominated by serious questions that pope francis has to answer. whether

he will answer those questions in terms of what the judge is going to do to deal with those who abuse children and those who cover up the abuse of children, we don't know. he is expected to mention that in his speech at dublin castle lives little later and we will bring that speech to you. but whether he issues an apology, which he has done before, 01’ apology, which he has done before, or whether he goes beyond that, we are waiting to hear the details of what he has to say. but undoubtedly, that issue of the abuse of children by catholic priests and catholic run institutions is the dominant issue of this visit. the official reason for the visit is his presence at the world meeting of families, an event thatis world meeting of families, an event that is held every three years, hosted in dublin this year, which celebrates the role of the family in the catholic church. these are the aerial shots of aras an uachtarain, the irish president'sresidence. but

the irish president'sresidence. but the ireland that pope francis is visiting is so different from the one that popejohn paul ii visited in 1979. there have been so many changes, including most recently, the referendum in which people here voted by two thirds to a third approximately to allow abortion. we have had the referendum allowing gay marriage, ireland the first country to allow that by public vote. and then running through all of that, what the former irish president, mary mcaleese has called the dark side irish catholicism, the issue of abuse, the issue of the mistreatment of unmarried women and their babies in homes across ireland. you can see pope francis emerging with michael higgins and his wife sabina. he will

be leaving the president'sofficial residence in the next few moments and heading to where i is to you from dublin castle, where he will be meeting the irish minister, leo varadkar, brought up catholic but no longer a practising catholic, a gay prime minister and in many ways the epitome of a very different ireland to the wonderjohn paul ii visited. before we talk further let's take a look at this report from andrew plant, looking ahead to these two days and also reflecting on the very different ireland that metjohn paul ii in1979. in 1979, whenjohn paul ii came to ireland, 90% of catholics attended weekly mass. contraception, abortion and divorce were against the law here. now that figure is a0%, and it's a very different ireland that will greet pope francis. i think in the past,

the catholic church had too much of a dominant place in our society. it still has a place in society, but not one that determines public policy or determines our laws. many are using the pope's visit to raise awareness of the catholic church's sexual abuse scandal, this art installation detailing the suffering of victims, these projections on dublin's general post office doing the same, alongside the hashtag #standfortruth. a series of inquiries here over a number of years exposed widespread sexual abuse by priests in various areas of ireland. pope francis is expected to meet with victims in private during his two—day trip. but with ongoing scandals exposed in several countries worldwide, many believe the catholic church faces a crisis of credibility that will overshadow this visit from the outset. so we are waiting as the pope sets

off from the president'sresidence in phoenix park for his arrival in about 20 minutes here at dublin castle. joining me now is katrina crowe, historian and archivist who has worked in the national archive of ireland. just as we talk about the right and left in politics, would you say there is now a right and left in the catholic church in ireland and indeed globally because of the different responses to the abuse scandal and other scandals that have emerged 7 abuse scandal and other scandals that have emerged? yes, i certainly would say there is a divide here and potentially globally, certainly in the united states, one can see very clearly. in ireland, we have a

achillea history in that the catholic church has been an intricate and intimate and sometimes tragic part of the history of the irish state. since 1922 and in fact before that, back into the 19th century, they ran our health and education services. they also ran an archipelago of coercive institutions like industrial schools, reformer trees, mother and baby hands. a quasi— state. trees, mother and baby hands. a quasi- state. a quasi- state alongside the state. there have been many complaints over recent days from people who want the pope and the church to take positive action on the abuse situation, to make it impossible for enablers to prosper. i don't expect that the pope will say something about that, but it would be wonderful if he gave us a practical solution. 0ne would be wonderful if he gave us a practical solution. one of the easy things they could do now is to allow people access to the records of the catholic church in ireland notjust for survivors, but for scholars too so for survivors, but for scholars too so that we can understand that relationship. as a historian and

archivist, you would of course love to get your hands on those documents. has any access been granted? there has been some access granted. some orders and dioceses are better than others. but the catholic church operates like a set of independent republics. bishops don't even report to the archbishop 01’ don't even report to the archbishop or the cardinal, they report to the pope or possibly did god. it's impossible to know. in that case, you cannot set out a set of global rules by which everybody must adhere. we have some diocese and some religious orders in ireland which allow no access at all to the records. but in any case, it should not be an issue, particularly for survivors. they should have the right to see any record that affect their lives. many of them are dying now, and to think that they may leave this world without having had an opportunity to discover all of the information they are entitled to is heartbreaking. we know that there

are going to be a number of demonstrations in dublin this weekend from the lgbt community, from survivors of sexual abuse, women and men, remembering those mothers and babies who were treated in sometimes horrendous conditions in the mother and baby homes and the magdalen laundry is. we didn't see something like that whenjohn paul ii was here in 1979. it is a reflection of how society is not afraid to speak up and speak out against the church any longer. everything has changed in various ways since 1979. on the one hand, 1979 came towards the end of a decade of the second wave of irish feminism, when women, like women all over the western world, were looking for better rights to contraception, abortion, divorce, equal pay, equal terms of employment and that the case of ireland, what happened in

the 19705 was a significant allocation of an allowance to unmarried mothers which signed the death knell for the mother and baby hands. it gave unmarried mothers, a5 they were known then, a choice for they were known then, a choice for the first time as to whether to keep their babies or not, and the results we re their babies or not, and the results were startling. but there was also things like roe ver5u5 wade in the united states, followed by the case where mary magee got the right to get contraceptives for her own use. by get contraceptives for her own use. by 1983, pu5illanimou5 politicians had allowed this to be inserted in the irish constitution and two thirds of the country voted for it. two thirds of the country voted in 1986 against divorce. it felt like a very cold house for those of us who did not adhere to strict catholicism. in a way, all of that came to an end in may of this year, when two thirds of the country voted the other way to repeal that eighth amendment of the constitution. in

the meantime, nothing but trauma, trouble and tragedy. so there has a lwa y5 trouble and tragedy. so there has always been this pick and mix approach to catholicism, one that is demonstrated much more openly now in ireland. how much do you think the church has adapted to that, be that the hierarchy of the church or prie5t5 on and individual basis in parishes? how much do they need to adapt to ensure that the people come with the church? i think they are going to lose the people. i think the hierarchy have tin ear5. they are not getting it either here in or the vatican that people are deeply upset and traumatised and angry about the revelations we have heard over the last 20 years about abu5e in the institutions and the dioce5e5, all rated by brave survivors who had the courage to tell their stories where they might not have been believed. they were believed, and pioneering journalists

made the country aware of what had been going on. you can't walk that back. the cat is out of the bag, the genie i5 back. the cat is out of the bag, the genie is out of the bottle. we are done with this. either the church 5te p5 done with this. either the church steps up to the mark and apologises properly instead of the sort of half baked where they have and takes measures to ensure that there can be no more of this and no more cover—ups. . . no more of this and no more cover—ups... we no more of this and no more cover—ups. .. we had no more of this and no more cover—ups... we had three preservation i5 cover—ups... we had three preservation is a cardinals globally. when will they get the message that people do not accept this any longer? it is not impossible that we may have a breakaway faction that were setup an alternative christian church at this point because the power of the vatican i5 this point because the power of the vatican is so stupid when it comes to this issue. children have been abused, what could be worse? and yet they do not seem to get it. catriona crowe, historian and archivist, thank you very much. we are waiting

here at dublin castle for the arrival of pope francis. he will be making his first public address of this two—day visit over the weekend. people in ireland and around the world a re people in ireland and around the world are waiting and watching to see what he is going to say. we will bring that to you. for now, back to the studio. annita mcveigh in dublin castle. women in england will be allowed to take the second dose of an early abortion pill at home, under a department of health plan due to take effect by the end of the year. last month, the government was criticised as being "out of step" — as the practice is already allowed in scotland and wales. chi chi izundu reports: under the current law in england, women who want to end their pregnancy before ten weeks have to take two pill5 up to a8 hours apart and at a clinic. but critics say two separate visits to a medical facility can be challenging to organise

and are often traumatic, as some women can experience bleeding and cramping on their way home. it was so traumatic and so unexpected. the pain and nausea was so extreme that i had to get off the tube. i lay down on the bench and basicallyjust decided that i wasn't going to move any further. it's that distre55 that the government wants to avoid women suffering. the department of health says by the end of this year, it will allow women to take the second pill in the familiar surroundings of their own home. around 180,000 women have an abortion each year in england, and four in five of those are early medical terminations. this move has been widely welcomed, with the british pregnancy advisory service calling this decision an outbreak of common sense. we're absolutely delighted that this has come into place. this is a way in which girls and women can access the second part, or the second pills

in their early medical abortion in a safe, effective and compassionate way. it also means england falls in line with wales, who allowed women to take the second pill at home from june, and scotland, which made the change last year. while in northern ireland, abortion is still illegal unless there's serious risk to a woman's health or life. chi chi izunda, bbc news. let's return now to pictures from dublin of the arrival of the pope's car at dublin castle in the courtyard in front of the castle. this is where the pope is due to make his speech in a short time. we will hear from make his speech in a short time. we will hearfrom annita mcveigh make his speech in a short time. we will hear from annita mcveigh to introduce that when the pope arrives at the podium. the speech will be watched with great interest, this big debate about whether the pope will or could apologise for the

suffering of children who have been abused. there is leo varadkar, the taoiseach, the panellist of ireland, greeting the pope at dublin castle —— the prime minister. a5 greeting the pope at dublin castle —— the prime minister. as we say, many will be watching the speech due to the cultural change in ireland since his predecessor visited ireland. this is of course his presence for the world families congress, which happens every three yea rs congress, which happens every three years and is being held this year in ireland. a packed audience, not surprisingly. annita will give us a sense of how this contrasts with the visit of popejohn paul ii, how much society in ireland has changed, and implications for the church's future in ireland particularly with the social changes on issues like

divorce, gay marriage, abortion, the relaxation of the abortion restrictions which existed until just a few months ago as a result of the referendum in the republic of ireland. he is surrounded by members of the church's hierarchy in ireland as well as those who have come from around the world to attend this conference on the family. important for the pope to get the tone right after yea rs in for the pope to get the tone right after years in which priests have abused children in ireland and around the world, which is at the heart of this controversy for the catholic church of how they have handled it. you can see the taoiseach on the left, deep in conversation. this will remain despite the changes in the country, it will remain an important event for politicians, religious leaders

and community leaders alike as well as practising catholics to hear the pope's words. let's go back to my colleague annita mcveigh, who is at dublin castle and who is watching proceedings for us. yes, a very swiftjourney yes, a very swift journey from yes, a very swiftjourney from the irish presidents residence to dublin castle, where i am today. a meeting with leo varadkar, or a greeting with leo varadkar, or a greeting with him, the irish prime minister, meeting pope francis here at the castle. a5 meeting pope francis here at the castle. as you can see, he is signing a visitors' book. it is fascinating to perhaps try to rid the body language between these two men and to hear more about what they have had to say if details emerge of

their private meeting. we know already from interviews that leo varadkar has given that he is talking about a hope for a new chapter in the relationship between the irish state and the church, a reference, of course, to the many decades when the church was the ultimate authority here in ireland and ran like a quasi— state alongside the state. of course, it still has a hugely influential role in the irish state in terms of the running of schools, for example. but it will be fascinating to see what emerges from this desire expressed by leo varadkar for a new chapter in that relationship. pope francis is presenting a gift to

leo varadkar, a man who in many ways is the epitome of the new ireland, certainly of the changing ireland sincejohn paul certainly of the changing ireland since john paul ii certainly of the changing ireland sincejohn paul ii came here a0 yea rs sincejohn paul ii came here a0 years ago, a man who was raised a catholic but is no longer a practising catholic. he is ireland's 93v practising catholic. he is ireland's gay prime minister, probably something that would have been unthinkable in recent times or until a few years ago, perhaps. and a man who has said he is deeply uncomfortable with the language that the church users to talk about lgbt people. and of course, lgbt people are among those who have been

protesting, marking their objections to the way the church talks about lg bt to the way the church talks about lgbt people to the way the church talks about lg bt people during to the way the church talks about lgbt people during this visit, one ofa number of lgbt people during this visit, one of a number of protests that will be taking place, or rather, perhaps i should take demonstrations rather than protests, including from survivors of child sex abuse. there will also be acts of remembrance for the children who died and were buried in unmarked graves at mother and baby homes that were set up and run for unmarried mothers because they were considered somehow shameful, something to be hidden away from society. as we look on

here at dublin castle, we are waiting for the first public address from pope francis. senator george mitchell there, instrumental in the peace process in northern ireland, one of the invited guests. still with me here at dublin castle, catriona crowe, the historian. catriona, this is a moment potentially of great opportunity for pope francis as he tries to address the many issues that irish catholics wa nt to the many issues that irish catholics want to see dealt with by the church hierarchy. it is an important moment. 0ne hierarchy. it is an important moment. one would love to think that he may tell us what the church intends to do to create an atmosphere and laws which will prevent enablers of abuse of any sort to happen again. we hear a great deal about canon law from the

church. canon law forbids this, that and the other. the answer to that is to change it. it is not beyond their purview. the catholic church has not lasted for 2000 years without being able to shift and change with different societal norms, and it can do it again in relation to this and in relation to women. i doubt he's going to tell us he is in favour of female ordination. mary mcaleese, ourformer president, has recently referred to the catholic church as an empire of misogyny. there seems to be an absolute brick wall against the idea that women might be accepted into the ministry of the church. so one hopes those things will happen. he is talking about the irish family as a strong institution. it is also one that has perpetrated quite serious crimes on its own members in that families did couude its own members in that families did collude with church and state to banish particularly their daughters into mother and baby homes and sometimes into magdelen laundress. so everyone has to look into their

hearts about these matters. i would have loved to have seen some sort of historical perspective on what the church did irish families and how irish families in some cases were torn apart by what happened. but that has not been forthcoming. so i hope the pope, who i believe to be a good person, will make an announcement to restore catholics' faith in the capacity of the church to change and to genuinely mean its words of sorrow about what happened. we have seen a glimpse of a catholic, but also a critic of the catholic, but also a critic of the catholic church, mary mcaleese. in terms of the changes you are looking to see, the concrete steps to deal with abusers and those who covered up with abusers and those who covered up of —— abuse, how much of that is

in the purview of the pope as an individual or is he hamstrung by the bureaucracy of the vatican? we hear that he is under the power of the cury, which is a notoriously conservative group of men —— the curator, who are opposed to any change of canon law. but nonetheless, the pope has power and could, if he has the will to do so, tell the curia that he wishes to change canon law and appoint a commission to do so. it would be possible for him to fire anybody who gets in the way of changes in how the church deals with abuse. he can't at the moment fire a cardinal archbishop or a bishop. ridiculous. where are the lines of accountability? exactly. so that needs to happen. and people like mary mcaleese, a trend canon lawyer herself, would be an interesting

person to involve in seeing how to make the model more responsive to potential abuse. but with the church open itself up notjust to have other catholics involved in that process , other catholics involved in that process, but perhaps people outside the catholic faith, out and out outsiders, to handle the process? well, they would have too. this is a question of survival. part of me thinks the church is looking to its expansion in africa and the east, which is where it is all going to go now. it is effectively dying in western europe and in the west generally. so they are looking to a future elsewhere. if they don't fix these problems now, what will happen in those other places when the church starts to develop? will we see dreadful repeats of what we have seen happen when power went to people's heads when there was no check on it, when things were not

admitted and secrets were kept? that has to be changed before the church moves into other environments. and gita that is the safeguarding of children in areas where the church is in the ascendancy —— that is the key. definitely. and they are in the ascendancy to a certain degree in places. many people don't go to mass, but they want their children to be baptised catholics so that they can go to catholic schools. as you say, there is a very strong identification with the catholic faith here. let's not pretend the country has somehow stepped away from the church entirely. that isn't the case. no, it is not and that is to do with our history and the weather catholic faith was persecuted for many years by britain at the end of the 17th century. catholic emancipation arrives and

then the church begins to build itself up. but it was also seen as the solace and comfort for many of our revolutionaries during the revolutionary period and it gets itself into pole position with the absolute thanksgiving of most of the population and the state in 1922. that has changed over the intervening years. but yes, there is a strong identification with the church as the religion of an oppressed people. that is a historic hangover that we have still got. and one has to respect that. i don't wa nt to one has to respect that. i don't want to be an absolute curmudgeon on a day when we are trying to be hospitable to an important visitor. but overriding all of those considerations and is the anger and shame and sorrow that people feel at what went on in this country for so long. we are waiting for the speech to begin. that will be happening soon here at st patrick's hall in

dublin castle. we saw an image of mary mcaleese, the former president of ireland, among the invited guests. i saw bertie ahern as well, the former irish prime minister and taoiseach. we have seen schoolchildren in the audience. you have government members, representatives from political parties including from northern ireland. we saw senator george mitchell, instrumental in bringing together the peace process in northern ireland. we have meps, members of the judiciary, the civil service, the diplomatic corps and representatives from different faiths, a broad range of faiths across the island of ireland. karen bradley is also there.