GARDAI have sent a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions following a 10 month investigation into allegations of child sex abuse by a former altar boy and another young man against two Dublin priests.
One priest took leave of absence from his post as a curate in a Dublin suburb last November, following the first complaint against him. That priest had earlier served as a curate in two Co Wicklow parishes in the 1970s and early 1980s, followed by a short time in London, and eight years in a Dublin working class parish.
The second priest has since left the priesthood and is now believed to be living in England. One of the men making the allegations, who is now 32, says he was repeatedly abused by the Dublin suburban priest when he was an altar boy in a Wicklow village in the 1970s.
He alleges that the second priest abused him on three occasions in his house in a west Dublin parish and on a camping trip in Kerry.
The former altar boy accepted £12,000 from the Dublin suburban priest before going to gardai in October 1995. He has also attempted to take a case for compensation against the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Connell.
A solicitor acting for the Dublin suburban priest said yesterday that his client was "absolutely denying any misconduct" in association with the second priest.
Garda sources said this week that the file was sent to the DPP last month after "a thorough and lengthy investigation". They expect a direction from the DPP's office in the near future.
A spokesman for Dr Connell said the archdiocese knew that a Garda investigation, into allegations against a priest who had last served in a Dublin parish, was in process but did not know the present status of that investigation.
He said: "The priest in question remains on leave of absence from pastoral ministry and the archdiocese does not wish to publicise his address."
It is known that the priest is living in a supportive environment away from contact with children somewhere in the Dublin archdiocese and has been receiving counselling.