Shame, because I'd been a fan until I read her letter to the Irish Times on Saturday criticising the pope for his remarks, on the basis that they're at odds with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which, apparently, has zero tolerance when it comes to corporal punishment.

Actually, make that two benefits to flow from the row.

I hadn't even heard about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child until she brought it up and if I hadn't realised it was so preposterous, I'd probably have been instinctively in favour of it - well, who's against the Rights of the Child?

Anyway, McAleese feels that the Vatican's commitment to this particular UN Convention is now in doubt.

Another critic is Peter Saunders, a former victim of clerical sexual abuse - I'm a bit tired of the term ‘survivor' in this context - who is a member of the Vatican's commission on stopping the molestation of minors.

Saunders, also head of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, says he was hit and ‘it did me a lot of harm'.

Well maybe, but there's a spectrum here, isn't there, between smacking a toddler for playing with matches to the modus operandi favoured by so many Irish fathers a generation ago, viz, whacking children with a belt.

Personally, I'm rubbish at corporal punishment. Continue reading

• Melanie McDonagh in The Spectator

Melanie McDonagh is a leaderwriter for the Evening Standard and Spectator contributor. Irish, living in London.

This is a particularly uplifting story of achievement against the odds, one we need so as to bolster up our determination to build a viable future for our planet. ‘All is connected…'

Dan Bidois left school at 15, and worked in a supermarket before studying for two degrees at Auckland University. At Harvard he studied economic and financial public policy, and worked with the NZ Education Ministry on lowering the cost of early childhood education and increasing participation rates for Maori and Pasifica children.

Natalie Coates followed a more traditional path, studying at Otago University before going on to study human rights and social justice law at Harvard.

It seems these two young people want to make the world a better place, using their talents to change outcomes for the better for their communities. They seized the opportunities offered to them, rather than giving up, or blindly treading outworn paths.

We need that hope for the future. I believe that young people are taking up the challenge. Witness the young who went to Rio plus 20 to ask for a future for humankind. Sadly, the adults - politicians, bureaucrats, entrenched in the old ways of doing business, were not equal to the challenge. No matter that those ways no longer work and disaster is looming closer every hour. Are they frightened of grasping the nettle? Or do they have no vision?

Here are some more optimistic observations of the Rio conference by Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland, currently a member of the Elders and the Club of Madrid, and an Honorary President of Oxfam International.

‘The Rio declaration does set some important processes in train, like developing Sustainable Development Goals, which address all three dimensions of sustainable development: environmental, social and economic ... Processes have also been established to strengthen environmental governance at the international level and to make progress on financing for sustainable development. These should be action oriented, aspirational and measurable, so that they complement the Millennium Development Goals.'

Likewise, we must thank God that the Rio Principles and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were reaffirmed, in face of some opposition. It is now up to the ordinary people of the world - us - to take the initiative in building a more sustainable future, making use of the processes agreed to at Rio. It is grassroots stuff and we need to keep pressure on our elected representatives - employed by us - to follow our lead now, as we in turn follow youth's example with courage and trust in our Compassionate Creator. Tricia Kane.