Following on from the Irish War of Independence (with Britain) in the early 1920's; the Irish Hierarchy filled the vacuum and had the church, as a central rallying point. They over-influenced the emerging politicians and developed the culture that to be Irish was to be Catholic; the two were intertwined. That influence lasted well into the 1980's , with remnants lasting up to 2002; when the then Minister of Education Michael Woods signed off on a "sweetheart deal", for 18 religious orders in the forefront of  religious child abuse. He capped their financial responsibility at €128M . The taxpayer had to foot the remaining €1.35B compensation awards. According to the Irish Independent newspaper report dated the 12th October 2003; Woods said "that his strong Catholic faith made him the most suitable person to negotiate the controversial deal for abuse victims with religious orders". He excluded the A.G. and his legal team from the discussions and signed off on the agreement himself .