BELFAST (UNITED KINGDOM)
The Irish News [Belfast, Northern Ireland]
December 21, 2023
A man who claimed a paedophile priest subjected him to years of sexual and physical abuse at a Co Down school is to receive £500,000 in damages, the High Court has heard.
The settlement was reached in an action over alleged historical assaults by the late Fr Malachy Finegan.
The plaintiff, who is not being named, sued the Diocese of Dromore and the board of governors at St Colman’s College in Newry.
Proceedings centred on alleged attacks on him over a five year period while a pupil at the school during the 1980s.
A statement of claim said he was targeted and groomed by Finegan for the purposes of an abusive sexual, physical and emotional relationship.
He was sexually assaulted in a series of locations, including the vestry, priests’ corridor and lounge, the nuns’ chapel and the President’s business office, according to court papers.
Finegan also allegedly choked the plaintiff, punched and slapped him on multiple occasions, and threatened him not to make any disclosure.
Lawyers for the man said he believes the priest surreptitiously put vodka in his fizzy drink before molesting him.
He lived in constant fear during his time as a student at the college, became suicidal and even considered burning down the priests’ chapel.
It was alleged that the assaults became less frequent when Finegan moved on to abuse a younger boy as a replacement.
Since leaving the school the plaintiff has spent several years unable to work due to his psychological injuries and trauma.
The case is one of a number of actions focused on the activities of Finegan.
He taught and worked at St Colman’s College from 1967 to 1987, spending the last decade as the school’s president. The priest, who died on 2002, was accused of a long campaign of child sexual abuse but never prosecuted or questioned by police about claims made against him.
In 2018 it emerged that the Diocese of Dromore had settled a previous claim made 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 Finegan while he worked there. His image was also removed from the school’s photographs.
Legal action against the defendants involved claims for negligence, assault, battery and trespass to the person.
In court on Thursday, counsel for the plaintiff, David Ringland KC, announced that his client is to receive £500,000 damages plus costs under the terms of the resolution.
No admission of liability was made by the defendants.
Outside court the man’s solicitor, Claire McKeegan of Phoenix Law, said: “This settlement is a welcome vindication for our client who was repeatedly sexually abused as a young boy by the former president of St Colmans College.
“Malachy Finegan was a priest of the Catholic Church who resided in the college. For three decades he acted under the protective cloak of the church.”
Ms McKeegan added: “For children like my client, there was no escape from his campaign of terror.
“The pain and suffering is lifelong for children who have been violated in this grotesque manner by those in positions of trust.”