Home secretary faces backlash over Kincora

News Letter
February 4, 2015

http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/regional/home-secretary-faces-backlash-over-kincora-1-6562100

Kincora

Home Secretary Theresa May has faced a backlash after announcing that the Kincora child sex abuse scandal will not be probed as part of a UK-wide inquiry.

Ms May told the House of Commons on Wednesday that the Westminster-led inquiry will be confined to England and Wales and will not probe the east Belfast home where three staff were jailed in 1981 for child abuse.

Northern Ireland politicians and campaigners have repeatedly called for Kincora to be included in the Westminster probe.

“But Mrs May responded yesterday that Kincora was already being probed by the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) inquiry in Banbridge, which is examining abuse in Northern Ireland institutions from 1922 to 1995.

The home secretary told the Commons that there were “good reasons for confining the inquiry’s scope to England and Wales”.

“The Hart Inquiry in Northern Ireland and the Oldham Inquiry in Jersey are already under way, while the Scottish government has announced its own inquiry into child abuse but I shall discuss this with the new chairman,” said Mrs May.

The home secretary yesterday announced that New Zealand High Court judge Lowell Goddard would head the Westminster inquiry.

Two previous chairwomen have resigned amid concerns over their links with the Westminster establishment.

“In the event that the geographical scope remains the same, I propose that a clear protocol is agreed to make sure that no information falls through the cracks, and no people or institutions escape scrutiny, censure or justice,” she added.

But East Belfast MP Naomi Long said claims of intelligence service involvement in Kincora justified its inclusion in the Westminster inquiry.

“The crucial element is in respect of the alleged involvement of the intelligence services in covering up abuse and recommendations in this regard would be best handled with similar allegations being investigated as part of the new inquiry.”

SDLP leader Alasdair McDonnell MP agreed, affirming that while the Banbridge inquiry has made progress, “it is clear that there are still questions to be answered on Kincora”.

UUP leader Mike Nesbitt and DUP MLA Robin Newtown also reiterated their parties’ positions yesterday, calling for Westminster to examine events in east Belfast.

Patrick Corrigan, of Amnesty International, backed the politicians, saying Ms May’s decision was “a huge missed opportunity to bring justice to victims”.