Sir Anthony Hart has made this is a special day for us

Sir Anthony Hart has made this is a special day for us

25 January 2017

SHOCKING levels of historical child abuse in institutions in Northern Ireland have been revealed in a long-awaited report released this week.

The Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry (HIA) published its findings detailing widespread failings in the care of children and recommending victims receive compensation payments of up to £100,000.

Among the institutions that came in for heavy criticism was Rubane House in Kircubbin, run by the De La Salle Order. There was a “systemic failure by the Order to keep children free from abuse”, both physical and sexual, the report found.

HIA chairman Sir Anthony Hart made his series of recommendations after hearing evidence relating to 22 homes operating between the years of 1922 and 1995. He found evidence of systemic failings in all but two, Hydebank Wood and Barnardo’s Sharonmore.

There was a particular focus on paedophile priest Fr Brendan Smyth, who abused children on visits to several institutions, including Rubane, where his crimes were found to have been ignored to protect the church.

Failings were also found in the structure, governance, staffing, funding and strategic oversight of the institutions under review.

In its findings the HIA report also rejected long-standing allegations that there was a paedophile ring containing British Establishment figures at the Kincora home in East Belfast, where members of staff had been found guilty of abusing residents in the 1970s.

The report also noted that some individuals provided excellent care in the homes and in the last three decades up to the 1990s noted there was an improvement in physical conditions.

Responding the report’s findings, victims campaigner Margaret McGuckin, who spent her early years in Carryduff before being abused at Nazareth House in Belfast, said they had been “vindicated”.

“Now the highest calibre judge in the land, Sir Anthony Hart, has made this is a special day for us,” she said. “He has vindicated us. So many people are not here today, who died before today without any form of justice.

“Now that the abuse inquiry has delivered its report, our ministers need to include redress for survivors in the Programme for Government and budget.”

Newcastle man Sam Adair, a former resident of Rubane House — which is now under private ownership — said he was also pleased with the clarity of the findings.

“All of this has been proven today,” he said. “The facts and the evidence speak for themselves.”

In addition to compensation, which the organisations who ran the homes at the time are to contribute to, Sir Anthony also recommended an official apology from the organisations and the government. A monument has also been suggested for Stormont.