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Irish paedophile priest paid from fund for poor after jail release

Saturday, 28 November 2009

Police investigate two Northern Ireland Catholic priests over child abuse

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Irish paedophile priest Ivan Payne was paid money from a fund meant to help the poor of Dublin after his release from prison and continues to receive money designed for "charitable purposes".

From the time of his laicisation in 2002 for a period of five years, Payne was supported with money from the Poor of Dublin Fund. The fund is made up of bequests to the archdiocese and is meant to be used for the relief of the poor.

However, the Murphy report into clerical child sex abuse found that the archdiocese decided that, because of his low employment prospects following his release from prison and his risk of becoming destitute, he should be financially supported at least until he qualified for the state pension this year.

The money received by Payne from the Poor Fund has since been repaid using money from the Curial Trust. It was from this same trust that Payne received a loan of IR£30,000 to cover his legal expenses and compensation to one of his victims, Andrew Madden. While Payne repaid some of this, the archdiocese wrote off the remaining €14,000 in 2004.

The Curial Trust is funded by individual archbishops but derives most of its money from bequests and donations given to the Church. The report by Judge Yvonne Murphy also found that Payne is now being supported by the trust.

The archdiocese yesterday refused to comment on the state of payments to Payne and whether it knows his current whereabouts.

Payne pleaded guilty in 1998 to charges of indecent assault on 10 young victims and was sentenced to six years' imprisonment. He was released in 2002 and moved to the UK.

Earlier this year, it emerged that Payne, now 65, was living in the Welsh town of Aberdare. However, when locals learned of his past he went into hiding.

_{Source: Irish Independent}