Conor Murphy has recounted how the late Malachy Finnegan dragged him into an office and savagely beat him with a stick before asking a series of explicit questions, including whether he loved him.

In an exclusive interview with the Press Association, Mr Murphy outlined his experiences in the late 1970s at the hands of Finnegan at St Colman’s College in Newry, Co Down.

Mr Murphy, who attended St Colman’s from 1975 to 1980, said he was angry that no one in authority stopped Finnegan’s reign of abuse, despite his sexual interest in young boys being common knowledge within the school.

He has demanded a full investigation.

The high-profile politician is the latest former pupil of St Colman’s to reveal their treatment at the hands of the abusive and sadistic cleric, whom he described as a “violent, volatile, bullying drunkard”.

“I think it was just before the end of our third year, I was a 14-year-old, and there was a bit of ruckus going on in the class we were in and Finnegan burst into the room,” the Newry and Armagh Assembly member told PA.

“He singled me out, he dragged me out by the hair, by the crown of your head, dragged me along the corridor, up two flights of stairs into his room and then he beat me with a stick on the hands and about the body.

“He was always prone to more violence than was perhaps to do with discipline.

“And then he suddenly flipped, as I was…

A new survey by ComRes found over 1.2 million adults are tuning into Premier Christian Radio regularly, with 951,000 people listening to Premier Praise and 765,000 listening to Premier Gospel every week.

Premier CEO Peter Kerridge believes he knows why.

“In a digital age when you can manage your finances, shop, book holidays, and do a myriad of other things, all with your mobile phone I’m not surprised by these figures,” he said.

“It’s obvious that people are searching for a spiritual experience outside of traditional church gatherings and in an on-demand world this trend will accelerate. Whatever device people choose to engage with Premier, phone, radio, or online the experience is the same.

“Christian Radio is intimate and private, it touches the soul. Listeners therefore are intentional as they listen to hear Christian messages amplified by great communicators.”

While recent statistics have shown a decline among young people attending church, for the first time ever, people aged 18 – 35 made the largest proportion of listeners on all three of Premier’s radio stations.

Justin Brierley, presenter of Premier Christian Radio’s award winning programme Unbelievable?, said a desire for “answers to the big questions of life” is another reason more millennials are listening to Premier’s stations.

“Young people may not be showing up in our churches but it’s clear that the…

Seven out of 10 families who receive supplies from food banks run by the Trussell Trust, a Christian charity, have dependent children, research by Sheffield University’s political economy research institute found.

Almost 600 households with children under the age of 16 were surveyed, with four out of five classed as “severely food insecure”, meaning they had skipped meals and gone without eating, sometimes for days, said the report.

Single parents using food banks were most likely to report rising food and housing costs.

Dr Rachel Loopstra, the report’s lead author, said: “Our findings draw urgent attention to the severe food insecurity and poverty experienced by families with children who are receiving help from food banks.

“Low-income families with children have experienced significant reductions in welfare entitlements in recent years, and entitlements will be reduced further for low-income families given changes to child tax credits and the ongoing benefit freeze in the context of rising living costs.

“If financial support is not increased for low-income families with children, it is likely more children and their parents will need to use food banks in the years to come.

“Annual measurement of food insecurity in a national survey is needed to monitor vulnerability to this serious problem among households with children.”

Trussell Trust chief executive Emma Revie…