The plaintiff in question is a victim of Brother Liam Coughlan, 90, who was convicted in 2023 for assaulting the plaintiff and 23 other pupils at a school in the 1970s. Mr Coughlan further convicted this year on 31 counts of indecent assault committed against pupils at a primary school in Portarlington, Co. Offaly where he was a teacher in the 1980s. 
The plaintiff is taking a civil case against the Christian Brothers accusing them of breach of duty.

As the Christian Brothers is an unincorporated body a litigant must sue all relevant members unless a nominee is appointed. Current head of the Christian Brothers, Brother David Gibson, has refused to act as a nominee. As such when the case came before Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty on 29 July she made an order that the names of 341 former Brothers be published informing them that they had been joined as defendants in the case.

As per the notice those men will be required to enter an appearance in the central office of the High Court within six weeks or risk judgment being given against them in their absence.

The Christian Brothers for their part stated: “Regrettably protracted litigation diverts and depletes resources available for future claims and serves only to enrich the legal firms focusing on protracted litigation.” The Brothers pointed to one case where the legal fees were almost 19 times the value of the compensation awarded to the plaintiff.