The Alliance MP has previously written to Home Secretary Theresa May appealing for Kincora Boys’ Home to be part of the overarching investigation set-up in the wake of child abuse scandals throughout the UK. She has now also written to the recently appointed Chair of the inquiry Fiona Woolf on the same matter.
Mrs Long was speaking as her party colleagues brought forward a motion in the Northern Ireland Assembly calling for a Westminster Government-led inquiry into the East Belfast home, echoing a call she has repeatedly made to the Home Office.
The Alliance Deputy Leader said her party’s motion, which refers to the allegations that senior politicians, military personnel, paramilitary figures and businessmen were involved in both the abuse and its subsequent cover-up, was designed to shine a light on the magnitude of the allegations concerning Kincora.
Naomi Long MP said: “Despite several people being prosecuted for the abuse perpetrated at Kincora, what differentiates it from other cases are allegations which persist of the involvement of the security services interfering in investigations to protect agents or collect information which could be used to blackmail those in positions of power.
“The ongoing Northern Ireland investigation into historical institutional abuse does not have the statutory powers to investigate these allegations, a fact acknowledged by its chair. That is why the Woolf Inquiry is the only vehicle which can investigate those wider allegations about Kincora and the Alliance motion once again puts that into the spotlight.
“The victims and survivors of Kincora deserve justice, but to date they have been left as outsiders without a voice. The Woolf Inquiry, if the correct powers are granted to it by the Home Office regarding witnesses testifying who are subject to the Official Secrets Act, is the way to properly consider the allegations and help the victims put their nightmares to rest.”
ENDS
Alliance motion to be debated on Tuesday
Motion: Investigation of Allegations of Abuse at Kincora Boys’ Home
‘That this Assembly notes with deep concern the allegation of sexual abuse that took place in Kincora Boys’ Home during the 1970s and 1980s; further notes allegations that senior politicians, military personnel, paramilitary figures and businessmen from Northern Ireland and Great Britain were involved both in the commissioning and subsequent cover-up of the abuse, as well as allegations that members of the intelligence service were complicit in a cover-up of this scandal; believes that the nature and seriousness of the allegations, especially that MI5 were involved in a cover-up, means that this cannot be adequately considered in any way other than a Westminster Government-led inquiry; and urges the Home Secretary to include Kincora Boys’ Home in the inquiry by Fiona Woolf as the most appropriate means of achieving truth and justice.’
[Mr Lyttle, Mrs Cochrane, Mr Dickson, Mr McCarthy]