Five former pupils who said a paedophile priest groomed and abused them at a Co Down school have obtained an enforcement order for damages of more than £1m, their lawyer revealed today.
The group, who cannot be identified, sued the Catholic Diocese of Dromore and the Board of Governors at St Colman’s College in Newry over alleged failures to protect them from the late Father Malachy Finegan.
In October last year their actions based on claims of historic sexual and physical assaults were settled at the High Court in Belfast without any admission of liability.
Agreed compensation figures of just over £1m in total were to be paid out within a 12-week period under the terms of the resolutions.
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With that period elapsing in late December, the plaintiffs’ legal representatives returned to court to seek a judicial order.
Despite issues raised about separate chancery court proceedings, they argued that the application was irresistible.
Solicitor Claire McKeegan of Phoenix Law confirmed Mr Justice O’Hara granted the application for a judgment which her clients’ now intend to enforce by statutory demands for the damages.
Speaking outside court, Ms McKeegan said: “The church and school reneging on the agreements is yet another painful insult to victims of sexual abuse inflicted on them as children by a priest.”
The plaintiffs all attended the school as young boys over a period spanning between 1972 and 1984.
During that time Finegan, who taught and worked at the college, subjected them to serious sexual, physical and emotional abuse, according to their case.
Lawyers for the five men described the alleged molestation as “depraved and sadistic”.
Finegan was accused of a wider campaign of child sexual abuse but never prosecuted or questioned by police about claims made against him.
He died in 2002, but years later it emerged that the Diocese of Dromore had settled a previous case taken by one of his alleged victims.
At that stage the Board of Governors at St Colman’s condemned the physical, sexual and emotional abuse inflicted by Finnegan who also served as its president.
Since then a series of lawsuits have been mounted over the alleged failures to prevent him from targeting pupils.
One of the five plaintiffs in the latest group of cases described the current situation as “scandalous”.
“We remain upset and angry by this devastating failure to comply with agreed settlements without any explanation,” he said.
“This has caused untold pain to survivors and significant disquiet among many people within the Diocese of Dromore.”