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Call to assess child abuse in NI MLAs vote for child abuse inquiry
(about 15 hours later)
The Assembly has called on the Executive to assess the extent of abuse and neglect in children's homes in Northern Ireland in the past. MLAs have backed the holding of an inquiry into the extent of child abuse in Catholic church and State-run institutions in Northern Ireland.
It also called on it to provide funding to support helpline and counselling services for victims of abuse. It follows the damning Ryan Report in the Republic which uncovered decades of endemic abuse in some institutions.
MLAs voted in favour of an SDLP motion expressing grave concern at the findings of the Ryan report. MLAs backed an SDLP motion calling for a similar assessment of the scale of abuse in Northern Ireland as well as the provision of support services.
The report was on abuse in institutions run by the Catholic religious orders in the Irish Republic. Before Monday's debate, campaigners delivered a petition to the Assembly.
The motion called for the Executive to liaise with the authorities south of the border. Thousands of people are understood to have signed the Justice for the Victims of Institutional Abuse in NI petition, which was handed to SDLP MLA Carmel Hanna.
A DUP amendment which did not include any reference to north-south cooperation was not adopted. Among those listening to the debate in the public gallery were adults who were abused as children in Belfast institutions run by Catholic nuns.
Earlier on Monday, campaigners demanding an inquiry into child abuse in Catholic and state institutions in Northern Ireland delivered a petition to the Assembly. The DUP failed in attempts to press for an amendment that fell short of calling for an inquiry and omitted the need for cross-border co-operation.
'Disgrace against humanity'
The DUP asked if an inquiry would add to public knowledge of the issue, while the party's Jim Shannon said there should be no amnesty for offenders.
"I am positive for the first time ever in this chamber we are united in a sense of righteous anger against those who perpetrated and those who covered it up and those who facilitated the continuance of this disgrace against humanity," he said.
Deirdre O'Donoghue and Margaret McGuckin handed over a petition at StormontDeirdre O'Donoghue and Margaret McGuckin handed over a petition at Stormont
Thousands of people are understood to have signed the petition which was handed to SDLP MLA Carmel Hanna. Mrs Hanna told the Assembly that because religious congregations operated on an all-island basis, "Ryan needs to be complemented and finalised by a post-script for Northern Ireland".
The group, Justice for the Victims of Institutional Abuse in NI, wants an inquiry similar to that which produced the Ryan Report in the Irish Republic. Sinn Fein's Sue Ramsey said the Ryan Report "rightly brought to the fore the treatment handed out to children, some who were among the most vulnerable in our society, that we as a State, both north and south, had a duty to protect, and we failed to do that".
It said that abuse in Catholic-run institutions there was "endemic". Ulster Unionist MLA Roy Beggs said Westminster and the Northern Ireland Office had a role in examining issues that pre-dated the creation of the Assembly.
In the assembly debate, Mrs Hanna said the Ryan Report was "a terrifying account of the shattered lives of generations of Irish children, a catalogue of inhumanity perpetrated against the most vulnerable children". A lawyer for the victims previously said they suffered sexual and physical abuse in cases dating back to the 1940s, but believed they have been discriminated against since inquires in the Republic did not extend to Northern Ireland.
"The relevant religious congregations operated on an all-island basis.
"That is why Ryan needs to be complemented and finalised by a post-script for Northern Ireland and why the Executive needs to act now."
"Discrimination"
A lawyer for the victims has said they suffered sexual and physical abuse in cases dating back to the 1940s, but believed they have been discriminated against since inquires in the south of Ireland did not extend to Northern Ireland.
Solicitor Joe Rice said he had written to First Minister Peter Robinson and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, as well as Secretary of State Shaun Woodward, detailing the demand for an inquiry.Solicitor Joe Rice said he had written to First Minister Peter Robinson and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, as well as Secretary of State Shaun Woodward, detailing the demand for an inquiry.
He said he believed the inquiry should be run along the lines of the State-sponsored investigation conducted in the 1980s into a child sex abuse scandal at Kincora Boys' Home in east Belfast.He said he believed the inquiry should be run along the lines of the State-sponsored investigation conducted in the 1980s into a child sex abuse scandal at Kincora Boys' Home in east Belfast.