Northern Ireland Executive Will Hold Inquiry Into Child Abuse

[Joanne98]

Source: Bloomberg

Northern Ireland’s ruling executive is to hold an inquiry into sexual abuse of children in institutions in the U.K. region.

A taskforce has been created to determine the nature of the inquiry and how it will be conducted, the executive said in an e-mailed statement late yesterday. The group’s recommendations will be made by June.

The Ryan Report, published in the Republic of Ireland last year, documented decades of abuse of children in institutions by Roman Catholic priests. Another report, published in November 2009, said Catholic Church leaders in Dublin were more concerned to cover up allegations of sex abuse by clerics than to investigate them.

The Northern Ireland executive said it’s “very aware of the suffering people have experienced” and the taskforce will engage with groups “here and in other jurisdictions.” That will include “listening to the voices of victims themselves,” according to the statement.



Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-17/northern-ireland-executive-will-hold-inquiry-into-child-abuse.html