First reported The abuse first came to public attention on 24 January 1980 with a news report in the
Irish Independent: "
Fitt to raise 'cover up' in Westminster – Sex Racket at Children's Home". It was reported that no prosecutions had taken place, despite allegations of abuse first surfacing in 1977 and the
Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) at Belfast's
Strandtown and Donegall Pass stations giving the
Director of Public Prosecutions a report detailing allegations of boys being sexually abused and prostituted, and naming prominent businessmen as being involved. On 3 April 1980 three members of staff at the home,
William McGrath, Raymond Semple and Joseph Mains, were charged with a number of offences relating to the systematic sexual abuse of children in their care over a number of years; they were all convicted. Mains, who had been the warden, was sentenced to six years' imprisonment, Semple, an assistant warden, to five years, and McGrath was jailed in December 1981 for four years.
Allegations of cover-up Allegations were later made that the RUC had been informed of the abuse at the home for years previously, but had not moved to prevent it. In his 1999 book
The Dirty War,
Martin Dillon claims that McGrath, who was also the leader of an obscure
loyalist paramilitary group called
Tara, may have been employed by
MI5 since the 1960s and was being
blackmailed into providing
intelligence on other loyalist groups.
Ian Paisley, leader of the
Democratic Unionist Party and moderator of the
Free Presbyterian Church which he founded in 1951, was accused of failing to report McGrath's abuse to the relevant authorities. He initially denied ever being advised by his informant, a church member, Valerie Shaw, that it was taking place. Paisley later gave other versions acknowledging learning from Shaw about McGrath's homosexuality. During this time, it was alleged by the British satirical current affairs magazine
Private Eye that "senior British military and judicial figures" were involved in the sexual abuse of boys in Kincora.
New policy overturned In response to increasing coverage in the media, the Eastern Health and Social Services Board decided to institute a policy of not employing homosexuals in any caring roles. Some people working in other homes, who were not alleged to have participated in abuse, were discovered to be homosexual and dismissed. The policy was later overturned by the
Northern Ireland Department of Health and Social Services.
1982 and 1984 inquiries A "private inquiry" was set up in January 1982 by
James Prior, the
Northern Ireland Secretary, Judge Hughes's Committee of Inquiry into Children's Homes and Hostels submitted its 355-page report on 31 December 1985. Amongst its 56 recommendations, which related mostly to the operation of children's homes and child care regulation, was one (46) that every criminal allegation made by a resident should be referred to the police. Another (4) was that the legal position regarding the exclusion of homosexuals from employment in residential child care should be established although the committee concluded that "the weight of opinion is against a policy of exclusion". Hughes concluded that, "The events giving rise to this Inquiry...can no longer be regarded as exceptional. They must perhaps be recognised as earlier symptoms of a general malaise permeating the United Kingdom."
Joshua Cardwell, an east Belfast
Unionist Party of Northern Ireland (UPNI) councillor and Stormont MP who formerly chaired the Belfast Corporation Welfare Committee responsible for children's homes, committed suicide in 1982 after making a statement to the RUC in March over Kincora. The Hughes report concluded, "There is no evidence that Councillor Cardwell took steps to prevent an investigation or suppress the matter. Nor is there any evidence that the Ministry of Home Affairs became aware of allegations or rumours of relating to homosexual misconduct at Kincora."
Later revelations In April 1990 writer
Robert Harbinson (also known as Robin Bryans) stated in the
Dublin-based magazine
Now that
Lord Mountbatten,
Anthony Blunt and others were all involved in an old-boy network which held gay orgies in country houses on both sides of the Irish border, as well as at the Kincora Boys' Home. Harbinson sent letters and postcards to members of the British establishment but once the postcards began to circulate there were complaints to the police and Harbinson was warned that he would be prosecuted for criminal libel. An example of his letter-writing style is copied here. In July 2014 former military intelligence officer
Colin Wallace said that any new investigation into the abuse at the home should have access to information from intelligence agencies. Wallace said that he received intelligence in 1973 that boys at the home were being abused, but some of his superior officers refused to pass on information. He said that he learned details of what happened in the home while gathering information on loyalists. On 20 January 2017, the HIA chairman Sir Anthony Hart dismissed claims that MI5 or any other British government agency had any role in covering up the reports of sex abuse which had occurred at Kincora and instead placed the blame on the poor investigating and reporting by the local police. In October 2022, former resident Arthur Smyth issued a writ against the
Department of Health, the
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the
Police Service of Northern Ireland,
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and the
Business Services Organisation. In June 2025, former resident Gary Hoy reached an undisclosed settlement with the PSNI and
Home Secretary over claims that a housemaster who sexually abused children was protected because he was an MI5 agent. His legal team argued that authorities enabled William McGrath to target vulnerable victims to gather information about Tara, a far-right group in which McGrath was a leading member. His team alleged that this went as far as obstructing RUC investigations into McGrath because he was an MI5 agent. There were also claims of malfeasance in public office and negligence were also made as part of a larger action against the PSNI, Home Office and Department of Health. There was originally a three-day trial scheduled, but Mr. Hoys' legal team announced that proceedings were settled on confidential terms. No more details were disclosed and no admission of liability was made as part of the resolution. Mr Hoy said afterwards "This case was never about the money, it was about holding them to account". He also said "I have carried this burden since the age of 13; I never told anybody about it at the time, and I still have nightmares and flashbacks about the abuse". == References ==