A former Marist Brother and teacher jailed for eight years on 180 counts of indecent assault on six schoolboys has had his conviction set aside by the Court of Criminal Appeal.
A retrial was ordered in the case of the man whose name has been removed from the sex offenders' register. He was released on bail after the verdict.
Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns said the judge in the trial did not adequately warn the jury about difficulties a defendant might have in answering allegations dating back 37 years.
The 63-year-old was jailed for eight years last March after he was convicted of abusing six schoolboys in his class in a Co Sligo national school.