UUP will face up to ‘guilt’ if implicated in Kincora sex abuse

Ulster Unionist Party leader Mike Nesbitt has said if any members of his party had been involved in child sex abuse at Kincora Boys' Home then it would face up to that "guilt" and deal with it.

Mr Nesbitt made his comments during a debate in the Assembly today where there was cross-party support for an Alliance party motion calling for a Westminster investigation to include Kincora in its remit.

Under its terms of reference an inquiry investigating allegations of an establishment “cover-up” of a paedophile ring at Westminster cannot include Kincora.

Northern Ireland politicians and organisations such as Amnesty have been calling for the British home secretary Theresa May to change the terms so that Kincora also can be investigated.

There have been consistent claims and rumours that MI5 was aware of but turned a blind eye to child sex abuse at Kincora in order to gain control over prominent figures in the British military, the RUC, the judiciary, politicians, loyalist paramilitaries and civil servants who were allegedly involved in the paedophilia.

“For decades now, there has been speculation that senior politicians were involved, including members of the Ulster Unionist Party,” said Mr Nesbitt.

“If the Ulster Unionist Party is implicated through individuals or corporately, I stand here to say that I will accept that guilt. The time has come to find out what really happened.

"I have been very critical of the Catholic Church and the way that it covered up members who abused children," added Mr Nesbitt. "I have been critical of political parties in the House whose senior members and family members were involved in abuse, and they did not do the right thing.

“So, if it is our turn as the Ulster Unionist Party, so be it. If any of our members were guilty, let us expose that, and I will acknowledge our guilt. There should be no hiding place because, if this is true, it is a national scandal. If it had happened in Birmingham, Swansea or Glasgow, it would be a national scandal. If it happened here in Belfast, it is a national scandal. Therefore, it needs a national investigation.”

In 1981 three senior members of staff at Kincora, including William McGrath, were jailed for abusing 11 boys at the home. McGrath was a founder member of the religious fundamentalist loyalist paramilitary organisation Tara, which was prominent in the 1970s and part of the 1980s. There were allegations in the 1980s that he operated a paedophile ring for establishment figures at Kincora.