Inquiry to begin into institutional child abuse in the North

An inquiry will be held into historic institutional child abuse in the North, the ministerial Executive said today.

Victims of alleged clerical wrongdoing have campaigned for months for a probe similar to that which unmasked widespread cases in the Republic.

The taskforce includes nine departments headed by the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) and the Department of Health.

It will report to the Assembly before the July recess.

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said: "I would expect many, many more people who see the opportunity presented to them to come forward and have a crime inflicted against them recorded and be part of a legal process which will in the time ahead hopefully give closure to people who have for many decades felt that they were not worthy or listened to.

"We believe that they are worthy and entitled to be listened to and be treated as first-class citizens."

In May last year a report by the Ryan Commission revealed a catalogue of physical, sexual and emotional abuse in the Republic by priests and nuns as well as attempts to cover up the truth and move offenders between parishes.

The North's victims have met the OFMDFM to seek a similar process to the Ryan Commission.

First Minister Peter Robinson said he did not envisage an inquiry of the scale of the Bloody Sunday inquiry.

"If it is an inquiry that is more investigative which can be done with fewer personnel then it is very much a smaller figure," he said.

Contact has been made with the police. Civil servants will represent the departments but they can seek specialist expertise.

The taskforce will report by the end of March on meeting the needs of victims. That could include counselling or other services.

It will hold talks with victims and examine experiences in other jurisdictions.

The announcement was made as the Executive breaks for Christmas.

Meanwhile, tonight's UTV programme is set to make fresh allegations against notorious paedophile priest Brendan Smyth and allegations of a high-level cover up.