Rubane may be the worst ever

Rubane may be the worst ever

1 October 2014

HARROWING revelations were always expected — but Rubane House is now thought to be one of biggest child abuse scandals in Ireland.

With fears that the scale of the crimes committed at the Kircubbin boys’ home are equal to or worse than those at the infamous Kincora children’s home in Belfast, at least 200 boys are thought to have been abused.

Some of the sexual assaults included rape, and the physical abuse was so bad that some children required hospital treatment.

One of the Christian Brothers in charge of the home has also been likened to the 

notorious Fr. Brendan Smyth, abusing children before, during and after his time at Rubane.

The details emerged this week as the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry turned its attention to the home run by the De La Salle Brothers, where 55 former residents are expected to give evidence. The inquiry will also hear the details of 150 other known cases at the home, which opened in 1950 and closed its doors in 1985.

Victims of paedophile priest Brendan Smyth are among those who will speak to the inquiry, as Rubane House was one of the institutions he regularly visited to abuse children in the 1970s.

The Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry was set up in the light of the 2009 Ryan Report in the Republic, which found rape and sexual molestation was “endemic” in Irish Catholic church-run industrial schools and orphanages. A total of 13 institutions in Northern Ireland are currently being investigated.

Counsel to the inquiry, Joseph Aiken, said it appeared that at least one in five of the 1050 boys who passed through the doors of Rubane House were victims. He warned that their evidence over the next few weeks would be “extremely harrowing and difficult to hear”.

Mr. Aiken’s reference to the high profile Kincora case — in which three senior carers were prosecuted for offences against 11 boys, and which faces allegations of a British Establishment cover-up — came as he quoted senior RUC officer Detective Chief Superintendent Eric Anderson.

In a letter to the Director of Public Prosecutions following a 1997 police investigation, Mr. Anderson said the abuse was “rampant”. 

“The full horror of the abuse in this establishment is reflected in 41 files already submitted through your office to the DPP,” he said.

“I consider the complaints made to show it to be on a par with, if not worse, than the the abuse at the Kincora children’s home.”

Turning to the Christian Brother likened to Fr. Brendan Smyth in his opening remarks, Mr. Aiken said that he preyed on boys over his nine years at the home but was never reported to police and has since died. As with all such Brothers referred to in the inquiry, he is not named.

The Brother was in charge of the institution for a period in the 1950s and 1960s and present when the first allegations of abuse came to light in 1958.

Mr. Aiken said the De La Salle Order accepted he had “sexually abused children in his care before, during and after his time in Rubane”.

“The type of grooming behaviour, abuse of power and sexual abuse of boys are similar to those traits that the public will be familiar with from cases such as Fr. Brendan Smyth,” said Mr. Aiken.

“The extensive and grave allegations have never been exposed publicly before. He was never reported to police or interviewed by them. He was never charged or convicted of the abuse.”

Mr. Aiken went on to say that five other Brothers in charge faced allegations.

The lawyer for the public inquiry said the abuse at Rubane ranged from boys being watched in the shower to serious sexual assault. He added that some required “hospital treatment for injuries that could never be justified by lawful corporal punishment”.

The inquiry heard that one Brother in the 1960s admitted allegations and left the order, while another member was moved from the home in 1972 because of claims of sex abuse.

Two individuals were convicted in the late 1970s when boys complained to social workers, but in the 1990s three prosecutions against the Order failed after successful abuse of process applications by the defence. One of these Brothers had also been due to be stand trial 15 years earlier but this was halted due to his ill-health.

The inquiry heard the De La Salle order has paid out almost £390,000 in compensation to complainants in civil cases, with over 50 civil claims to date and 22 resolved.

While it accepted and apologised for a number of offences, Mr. Aiken said the De La Salle order was not in a position to accept all the allegations.

The lawyer also pointed out that while there may be at least 20 per cent of children abuse in their care, that left a potential 80 per cent not affected. He also said that not all the allegations may be true. Mr. Aiken went on to stress that the current owners of the Rubane House site had no connection whatsoever with the events under discussion.

The inquiry heard that there were high hopes for the Rubane site when it opened — a possible escape to the country for impoverished boys.

On a 250 acre site on the shores of Strangford Lough, it had an outdoor swimming pool among its facilities. “It could be said Rubane had much greater facilities than many children living in deprived areas of Belfast might have experienced,” said Mr. Aiken.

“On one view Rubane had much going for it.

“However, as the inquiry will come to see and hear, all unfortunately was not well at Rubane.”

He pointed to “fundamental flaws in the characteristics of some of the Brothers” who took over the home, which made them “inherently unsuitable to be around children”.

Referring to the argument that the past can be seen as a ‘foreign country’, and therefore difficult to judge, he said there could be no excuse for what went on at Kircubbin.

“There is no justification for the sexual and physical abuse of the boys in this house or for failings to deal properly with that abuse when it came to light or for covering it up,” he said.

“While it may be said that the systematic failings found in respect of Rubane are unlikely to exist today, the past is not a foreign country for the victims. It is their present.”

He added: “Individuals have come forward to the inquiry with the desire, however difficult it may be for them, and want the opportunity to publicly explain what happened to them when they were supposed to have been in the care of the Diocese of Down and Connor and the De La Salle order.”

Mr. Aiken said some of those giving evidence also had complaints against them and that this would be handled as “sensitively as possible”.