An Irish-born priest who is wanted by police in England in relation to the alleged abuse of altar boys has been the subject of similar allegations in Ireland, writes Liam Reid.
Father Christopher Clonan has been missing since 1992 from his parish in Coventry after serious allegations were made against him by former altar boys.
Earlier this week the Archdiocese of Birmingham made a record €481,000 payment to Mr Simon Grey (38) for abuse he suffered at the hands of Father Clonan for six years in the 1970s.
Despite claims by his family that Father Clonan died in October 1998 in Australia, West Midlands police are "still looking for his whereabouts".
It has now emerged that Father Clonan was the subject of serious allegations in Ireland while he studied to be a priest in All Hallows College in Dublin in the late 1960s. A late vocation to the priesthood, he had previously worked as a property developer. He was ordained in 1972 at the age of 30.
One Dublin man who contacted The Irish Times yesterday claimed he was sexually assaulted by Father Clonan who befriended his family during his clerical studies.
The man, now in his 40s, said Father Clonan helped to build an extension on his family home. "He tried to ingratiate himself into our home," he said. He claims he was sexually assaulted by Father Clonan during this period.
"As children we all talked about it, but we didn't tell anybody," the man recalled. "We knew to keep away from him. I could handle him. My main concern was to keep my younger brother and sister away from him."
In the late 1990s the man named Father Clonan, detailing abuse allegations against him in a confidential letter to a senior Garda officer. He has had no contact with gardaí since.
It is not believed that gardaí are investigating any allegations against Father Clonan at present. During his time in Coventry, Father Clonan also had a home in Co Meath. In the 1970s he brought a number of young boys on holiday there.