NORTHERN IRELAND
Irish Times
Mon, May 19, 2014
The UK’s largest ever public inquiry into institutional child abuse is to travel to Australia to interview alleged victims transferred from Northern Ireland.
More than 100 children were removed from church-run residential homes in Northern Ireland, most to Western Australia after the war. An investigation chaired by retired judge Sir Anthony Hart is examining whether they were physically, sexually or emotionally harmed during their journey.
Lawyers and support staff are expected to pay their second visit to the antipodes next month ahead of public hearings in September, Sir Anthony said.
He added: “The inquiry will examine the operation of the child migrant scheme in the context of children from Northern Ireland institutions who were sent to Australia.
“Before that module can start, we have to complete our preparatory work for it and a major part of that involves a second team from the inquiry going from Northern Ireland to Australia to speak to those applicants who were not seen during last year’s trip.”
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