NORTHERN IRELAND
Yahoo! News
By David Blevins, Ireland Correspondent | Sky News
More than 400 people have applied to speak to the state inquiry into historical institutional abuse in Northern Ireland, the largest tribunal of its kind anywhere in the UK.
Most applications, some 280, were from people living in Northern Ireland, but 63 came from Great Britain, 61 from Australia, 20 from the Republic of Ireland and the remainder from elsewhere.
The Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry was established by the Stormont Executive this time last year and will hold its first public evidence session today at Banbridge Courthouse in County Down.
It has a remit to investigate historical child abuse and/or neglect in institutions over a 73-year period up to 1995 and is currently investigating 13 establishments, including Kincora Boys’ Home in Belfast.
Kincora was the scene of a notorious sex scandal and while three members of staff were convicted in the 1980s, questions remain about who knew what and why it continued.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.