Police in England are continuing their search for an Irish Catholic priest at the centre of the largest clerical sex abuse compensation settlement there, despite claims from his family that he died in 1998. Liam Reid reports.
The Archdiocese of Birmingham has agreed to make a €481,000 payment to Mr Simon Grey (38) for abuse he suffered at the hands of Father Christopher Clonan for six years in the 1970s as an altar boy in Coventry.
Father Clonan, from Clonard, Co Meath, fled England in 1992 when allegations against him first surfaced. His brother, Andrew, who lives in Melbourne, Australia, told The Irish Times that the priest died suddenly in 1998. He has provided a copy of the death certificate to newspapers in England.
However, yesterday a spokeswoman for the West Midland's Police Force said that the investigation was ongoing and officers were "still looking for his whereabouts".
The spokeswoman said that while there had been reports that Father Clonan had died in Australia, "we have not been able to confirm this."
Police investigated allegations against Father Clonan in the early 1990s but the inquiry stalled because of insufficient evidence. The case was reopened two years ago.
Father Clonan is believed to have moved to Australia in 1992.
The Archdiocese of Birmingham has been unable to confirm from Australian authorities the death of Father Clonan.
Speaking from his home in the suburb of Melbourne, Mr Andrew Clonan told The Irish Times that his brother remained a priest until his death in 1998.
He said he had little contact with his brother, but said he died suddenly "at a private residence" outside Melbourne in October 1998.
According to a death certificate which Mr Clonan faxed to a local newspaper in Coventry last year, Christopher Clonan was 56 years of age when he died. According to the certificate, Christopher Oliver Clonan died on October 22nd, 1998, and was cremated at Bendigo Crematorium on October 27th.
He was described in the death certificate as a property developer, and is listed as having been resident in Australia for 26 years.
"We never had much to do with him, to be honest," Mr Clonan told The Irish Times. After he left the UK in 1992, Father Clonan spent time in various countries, and was a regular visitor to Australia.
"He travelled quite a lot." Mr Clonan was aware of the allegations against his brother, but had not raised the issue with him. "We never discussed that, no," he said.
Before he left Coventry in 1992, Father Clonan spent 20 years as assistant parish priest at Christ the King Church in Coundon.
Allegations have been made by at least eight former altar boys that Father Clonan abused them while they were robing up in the presbytery for Mass.