Nora Wall, the former nun wrongly convicted of raping a girl (12), has turned down an offer of €75,000 compensation by the Minister for Justice, the High Court has heard.

Wall (65) is now seeking damages against the State, including aggravated damages over the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) decision to bring her case to trial.

In pursuit of her claim, she is asking the court to order the DPP to hand over certain documents.

In 1999, the former Sisters of Mercy nun - known as Sister Dominic - was the first woman to be convicted of rape in Ireland. She was also convicted of indecent assault.

She was released on bail four days into a life sentence after it emerged that a prosecution witness had been called to testify against the directions of the DPP.

This witness later admitted fabricating evidence in which she claimed to have seen Nora Wall holding the alleged victim down during the attack.

In 2005, in light of these new facts, the Court of Criminal Appeal declared that the former nun's conviction was a miscarriage of justice.

Nine years on, Nora Wall claims it should have been evident to the DPP, that the woman who made the rape complaint had connived with this witness to secure false corroboration.

'Akin to gross negligence'

As part of the former nun's claim for damages against the state, the High Court is being asked to approve the release of documents that may shed light on certain issues.

Firstly her lawyers hope to find out what prompted the DPP decision not to call this witness to give evidence at the trial.

Luan O'Braonain SC for Nora Wall, said the fact that the witness did testify was characterised as 'inadvertence' by the DPP whereas it is his client's case that it was 'akin to gross negligence' like 'taking out the wrong organ on the surgery table'.

Secondly, her legal team hopes to discover any assessments made by the director regarding the credibility of the complainant. Thirdly, they are trying to find out if there was any system in place to ensure compliance with the DPPs directions.

Mr. Justice Michael White has reserved his decision on whether much of this material can be released to the former nun.

The State is opposed to the granting of discovery for most of these documents. Shane Murphy SC said that Nora Wall's action for damages goes beyond the scope of the miscarriage of justice findings.

Pictured above: Nora Wall (centre) leaves court in 1999