Wednesday 29 January 2014 14.29 A Catholic Bishop has asked the High Court to dismiss cases being taken against him by three victims of paedophile priest Brendan Smyth.
Bishop of Kilmore Leo O'Reilly is being sued, as successor to the previous bishop, Francis McKiernan.
The victims allege the then Bishop of Kilmore Francis McKiernan and the now Cardinal Seán Brady did not take steps to prevent Smyth from abusing children in the 1970s and the 1980s.
They allege that they were negligent because they did not report complaints made about Smyth in interviews conducted with two young boys in 1975.
One of the boys identified one of those taking the case as a victim of the priest during these interviews.
However no action was taken to prevent further abuse and the boys were sworn to secrecy.
However, lawyers for Bishop O'Reilly say the man named in the interviews cannot continue this action as he received a settlement from Smyth's order, the Norbertines, in 1998.
They say he accepted the settlement of £25,000 sterling, as a full settlement of all claims in relation to Smyth.
They say he sued Cardinal Cahal Daly in the original proceedings in Northern Ireland, as primate of All Ireland and representative of the bishops.
Lawyer Rossa Fanning said the bishop did not wish to minimise the suffering of the victims.
He said this was a legal issue and if the court allowed this case to be taken after a settlement had been agreed, it would have implications for all such settlements.
He said the diocese had very limited resources and there were many other cases facing the diocese.
Lawyers for the victims, say the fact that one of the boys interviewed in 1975 had disclosed that the man involved in this case was also being abused by Smyth, was "actively concealed" in the court proceedings in the 1990s.
Neither his parents nor the civil authorities were informed and the boys interviewed were sworn to secrecy.
The lawyers say if they had known that information they would not have settled the case for such an amount.
They also said the earlier settlement was a partial settlement.
High Court President Justice Nicholas Kearns said he would have to decide on this preliminary issue.
He said he would have to decide if the parties who were sued in 1996 were the same as the parties now being sued.
And he said he would have to decide if the cause of action was the same in both cases.
The case will continue with legal submissions and argument.
The judge said he did not expect to be in a position to hear evidence from anyone today or tomorrow. He said this issue may require a written judgment from him.
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