Labour has backed the victims of a paedophile ring operating in an east Belfast care home who want the scandal investigated as part of the wider Westminster inquiry into child abusers at the heart of the British establishment.
Despite the disclosure of secret state files on abuse allegations at the notorious Kincora Belfast boys’ home, it will not prompt a government rethink on its exclusion from a UK-wide abuse inquiry.
The Northern Ireland secretary, Theresa Villiers, said the best forum to examine claims of political involvement in a paedophile ring that operated from the boys’ home was an ongoing Stormont-established inquiry, chaired by the retired judge Sir Anthony Hart, not the nationwide inquiry being chaired by the New Zealand judge Lowell Goddard.
Campaigners for Kincora’s inclusion in the UK-wide inquiry have highlighted that the Northern Ireland-specific investigation does not have the powers to compel security services witnesses to give evidence or produce documents.
“The Hart inquiry is doing an exceptionally good job,” said Villiers. “We feel that it is the right forum to investigate the despicable events that took place at Kincora.
“Like everyone else, we want to ensure that the truth is discovered, that these events are fully investigated and we believe the Hart inquiry is the best forum to do that.”
But her Labour counterpart, Ivan Lewis MP, insisted the government should change course and incorporate Kincora into the Westminster inquiry.
The shadow Northern Ireland secretary said: “The Kincora victims deserve truth and accountability in relation to the horrendous abuse which still haunts so many lives to this day.
“The content of these new government documents will only strengthen concern about a potential cover up at the highest levels. These developments should cause the Government to change course and without further delay include Kincora in the terms of reference of the national child abuse inquiry.”
Paedophiles, including prominent Orangemen and Ulster loyalists, abused boys from the Kincora home in east Belfast during the 1970s. While three staff members were convicted in 1981, it has long been alleged that well-known figures in the British establishment – including senior politicians – were also involved.
Amnesty International is among the campaigners making fresh calls for Kincora’s inclusion in Justice Goddard’s inquiry, following the discovery of a series of confidential government files.
Amnesty’s Northern Ireland director, Patrick Corrigan, questioned the government’s stance.
“Nothing less than a full public inquiry – with all the powers of compulsionthat brings – can finally reveal what happened at Kincora,” he said.
