Reynolds settlement 'not €5m'

The strongest indication yet of how much compensation Fr Kevin Reynolds is entitled to from RTÉ has been given by the Association of Catholic Priests this afternoon.

The Galway priest successfully sued the state broadcaster for defamation, after he was wrongly accused by a 'Prime Time Investigates' programme of raping a teenager in Kenya and making her pregnant.

He received an undisclosed fee in compensation.

The show has now been suspended, while an independent inquiry into the matter is carried out.

Speaking to Shannonside radio this morning, Fr Sean McDonagh of the Association of Catholic Priests indicated how much compensation Fr. Reynolds may have received from RTÉ.

He said the sum is not the €5m that has been speculated in some quarters, but it is in what he described as "the low millions".

"It is a substantial sum," Fr McDonagh said.

"You may be talking in… very low side of a million," he said. "It's not €5m - as far as I know.

"I suspect it's low."