NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph
Editor’s Viewpoint
The reality of child sex abuse continues to disfigure our society, and inquiries into this dark subject need every shred of evidence.
It is unfortunate therefore that Colin Wallace, the Ulster-born former Army officer who first raised concerns about the sexual abuse of boys at Kincora in the early Seventies, has decided not to give evidence to the long-running Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry (HIA).
He says that the decision of the High Court not to allow a judicial review challenge of Secretary of State Theresa Villiers’ decision not to refer the evidence to the more powerful Goddard Inquiry in London is a bitter blow to the victims of abuse here.
Mr Wallace asks the pertinent question: “Is the sexual abuse of children in London really more significant than the sexual abuse of children in Northern Ireland?”
He also states bluntly that in the current circumstances, he feels that there would be no useful purpose in participating in the HIA in Banbridge and expresses the hope that others with knowledge of child abuse in Northern Ireland will decide for themselves about taking part, or not, in the inquiry.
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