FORMER PRIEST EUGENE Greene, who pleaded guilty to 41 counts of sexual assault on 26 children in Donegal between 1965 and 1982, died at the end of last year it has emerged today. 

Greene was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2000 but was released eight years later. 

According to RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, Greene died at the end of November but the Church authorities were not informed of his death at the time.  He was 91 years old.

It is also believed that the Raphoe Diocesan Office will be contacting victims of Greene in the next day or two to inform them of his death.

Greene sexually assaulted 26 boys in parishes across Donegal over three decades, starting in the 1960s. 

In a 2002 BBC interview, one of Greene’s victims, Paul Breslin described the abuse as “worse than hell”. 

Breslin was only ten when Greene started to abuse him and he said he had nobody to turn to. 

I did want to tell my own dad but I said to myself if I told them they would say: ‘No, the priest can never do that.’ 

It is not known where Greene died, but RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta understands that he was cremated and his ashes scattered at sea.