suzanne lynch, the washington correspondent for the irish times. and the american writer and broadcasterjef mcallister. as we go to air, pope francis, the leader of the world's 1.3 billion catholics, has landed in ireland, on the first papal visit to the country for nearly a0 years. more than a million people gathered in dublin in 1979 to see popejohn paul ii, about a third of the population at that time. then, divorce was outlawed, as was homosexuality, and no—one could imagine that proposals to legislate for abortion would be one day approved in a referendum. this weekend, about a tenth of the population is expected to turn out, in a changed country, which has been hugely damaged by revelations of sexual abuse within the church, and its cover—up. catherine — how significant is this visit, which we are told was very much the pope's idea? it is going to be important for pope