The Republic of Ireland was one of the most devoutly Roman Catholic countries on earth with the church's position in power actually cemented into the constitution. Moreover Irish Nationalists were reluctant to admit any failings as the scandal would give credence to Irish Unionists in Northern Ireland's claims of Catholic domination (that "Home Rule was Rome rule") and justify their opposition to independence from the rest of the British Isles and insistence on a partitioned Ireland.
