Lawyers for the group have threatened to lodge a high court petition against St Colman’s College in Newry unless their demand over the settlements is met.
The development came amid continuing uncertainty over the Catholic Diocese of Dromore’s financial capability to fund historical clerical abuse compensation cases.
A number of actions have already been temporarily suspended under a moratorium on outstanding lawsuits. The diocese is seeking legal clarification on whether parish property can be sold to help meet any liabilities to victims.
It has been sued in a series of cases, many of them centred on the activities of paedophile priest Malachy Finegan.
Finegan, who died in 2002, allegedly groomed and sexually abused boys while he taught and worked at St Colman’s College in Newry, Co Down.
Millions of pounds in damages have already been paid out in lawsuits mounted over failures to prevent him from targeting pupils.
Church authorities set up a redress scheme in 2021 for survivors of sexual abuse perpetrated by clergy within the diocese, with payments capped at £80,000.
Other steps have been taken to liquidate or realise assets to help compensate claimants. Last year the sale of the bishop’s house in Newry was completed, while the sale of associated land remains pending.
Proceedings before the chancery division of the high court in Belfast are examining what other assets are available to trustees for any settlements in compensation claims.
In October 2025, however, five former pupils at St Colman’s agreed combined total settlements of £1.2 million.
The group sued the diocese and the school’s board of governors over alleged failures to protect them from Finegan.
Their actions, based on claims of historical sexual and physical assaults, were settled without any admission of liability.
But, according to the men’s legal team, legal counsel William Gowdy and solicitor Claire McKeegan of Phoenix Law, the settlements remain outstanding.
McKeegan said that a statutory demand for payment has now been lodged as a potential first step towards seeking a winding up petition against St Colman’s.
“The victims and survivors are now more than a year on and despite agreeing settlements ... not one penny has been paid to them,” she said.
“They are further traumatised by the delay and uncertainty which unfortunately has characterised the approach of the diocese and the college to this series of serious and grave cases.”
Further information during a review hearing about the school’s insurance has provided no comfort, the solicitor claimed.
“Our clients have served statutory demands, and if they are not satisfied they are left with no option than to [seek to] wind up the college,” McKeegan said.
“This is not a mess of their making.”