A former priest and music teacher who told the Pope last year he had a history of “abusing young boys” has been given a four-year prison term for indecently assaulting a secondary school student in the 1980s.

A man who says he was sexually abused by a priest who was working as a music teacher while at secondary school in the 1980s told a court he didn’t tell anyone about the abuse until 2009 because he didn’t know how it would be received.

The Irish Refugee Council has said it is awaiting legal advice as to whether children in the asylum system are included under the wording of the upcoming referendum on children’s rights.