It has been revealed that the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle may have been a bit of a dumping ground for Ireland’s unwanted priests. Documents tendered to the NSW Special Commission of Inquiry show that the paedophile priest Denis McAlinden was sent to Australia by his Redemptorist leader in Ireland. From the documents it seems McAlinden did not take well to ‘community life’ with his Irish brothers, was hard to get on with and had a bad temper. However in his first year in the Hunter as a parish priest, he repeatedly raped an 11 year old girl before going on to sexually abuse dozens more little girls. The NSW Inquiry begins hearing closing submissions today.