Three alleged sexual abuse victims of notorious paedophile Fr. Brendan Smyth will not be able to bring fresh damages claims against the church.

The High Court has ruled in one of the cases that a man (54) from Belfast made a full and final settlement of his claim for £25,000 in 1998.

The court finds he was sexually assaulted on a regular basis between around 1968 and 1976.

The man, along with his sister and cousin, had tried to re-open their cases because he claimed he had not been aware of two meetings in 1975 where he had been identified to the then Bishop of Kilmore as a potential victim of the late Fr. Smyth.

However High Court President Nicholas Kearns has ruled that this information was in the public domain prior to his settlement and he has concluded that there is no cause for fresh legal action in all three cases.