A new bishop has been appointed to the Cork diocese of Cloyne for the first time in two years following a scandal over the handling of abuse allegations.

The Pope has appointed Canon William Crean of Cahirciveen in County Kerry to the post vacated in 2010 by Bishop John Magee.

The Diocese of Cloyne has been without a Bishop since 2010, when John Magee resigned, but even before that, he had taken a back seat, with the diocese being administered by Archbishop Dermot Clifford of the neighbouring Cashel and Emly.

Bishop Magee failed to fully implement the Church's own child protection guidelines, and later said that he was "ashamed" by the abuse perpetrated by priests of his diocese.

Canon Crean - who is 61 years old - was ordained to the priesthood in 1976 and is currently the Parish Priest in Cahierciveen in County Kerry.

He takes over a diocese with a Catholic population of 150,000 people - his first job, is to restore confidence in the church, in the wake of the child abuse scandal.

Pictured: Archbishop Dermot Clifford