The High Court has rejected a scheme put forward by the Bishop of Cork, Dr John Magee, and the parish priest of Youghal to use £475,000, the proceeds of the sale of the former Christian Brothers school in Youghal, Co Cork, to pay off some of the parish debt.
The school at Marine Terrace, Youghal, was part of a trust set up in the 1830s "for the Roman Catholic parishioners of Youghal". The rents and profits were to be used and applied for "providing free education for the poor Roman Catholic male children" of the parish.
It was leased to the Christian Brothers when they arrived in 1857 and assigned to them rent-free "for free education of the male Roman Catholic poor" of Youghal. The Brothers left the town in June 1997 and handed over the keys of the monastery, which adjoins the school, to the local parish priest. The school was sold to the Minister for Education.
Following the sale, a scheme devised by the Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests stated the money received from the sale was to be used "strictly for educational use for all children attending primary and secondary schools in the parish of Youghal".
The trustees of the scheme have, throughout the years, been the bishops of Cork and the parish priests of Youghal.
It was argued on behalf of the trustees that education was now funded by the State and it was proposed the monies would be used primarily to pay off a debt on a local parish hall. The court was told the hall was being used for educational purposes such as adult education, self-improvement courses, women's health and well-being, education for the lonely or depressed, drug-awareness, arts and crafts.
In his judgment yesterday, Mr Justice Lavan said he had no evidence that the trustees had or were fulfilling their duties under the 1997 arrangement. He considered that Youghal schools might need such aids as computers and visual aids. There was no evidence of any payments being made to any of the schools since 1997.
The judge said he considered as more than reasonable a request by the Attorney General to the trustees that they investigate further the needs of local schools. He accepted that the functions and activities carried on in the community centre were by and large educational in nature and said the court would be sympathetic to an application on its behalf.