Derry to Be Initial Focus of Abuse Hearings

By Colin Francis
Belfast Telegraph
September 5, 2013

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/derry-to-be-initial-focus-of-abuse-hearings-29553754.html

Abuse allegations regarding two Londonderry homes run by the Sisters of Nazareth will be the focus of the first public hearings of a new inquiry.

The Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry will look at allegations about St Joseph’s Home in Termonbacca and Nazareth House in Bishop Street.

The inquiry is due to report to the Stormont Executive in 2016.

It is probing the extent of child abuse in both Catholic church and state-run institutions in Northern Ireland.

Statements from people who claim to have been abused in the two Derry homes will be heard when inquiry members travel to meet them in Australia later this month. Another visit next year will be about other institutions.

The Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry was established following the Ryan Report in the Republic which uncovered decades of endemic abuse.

The inquiry chaired by retired judge Sir Anthony Hart has held public hearings in Belfast.

The deadline for anyone who wants to make an application to the inquiry is November 29.