27-05-2025
- Politics
- Belfast Telegraph
Kincora: Lord Mountbatten, MI5, William McGrath – and the search for the truth
It was a home for vulnerable boys east Belfast run by paedophiles, it was a place where dozens of boys and teenagers were abused, raped and damaged by a gang of predators.
That story would be bad enough in and of itself, but the scandal did not stop there.
The home was run by William McGrath, a leading loyalist, and the founder of the mysterious Tara paramilitary group.
McGrath has long been believed to have been an MI5 agent – and the agency has long been accused of endeavoring to cover up what happened in Kincora.
That allegation was rebuked by Sir Anthony Hart's in his final report for the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) inquiry.
The report did not find any evidence that the intelligence services were aware of the paedophile ring operating at the home; or that the "spooks" were blackmailing the abusers to spy on fellow hardline Ulster loyalists.
Sir Anthony said the idea that Kincora was a "brothel", used by the security services as a "honeypot" to extract information about leading loyalists was without foundation. But the secrecy around MI5's approach to Kincora continues to foster suspicion.
But perhaps the most shocking allegation to come out of the home is some of the victims believe that they were abused by Lord Mountbatten – a mentor to King Charles, he was the late Queen's second cousin.
Journalist Chris Moore has worked on the Kincora scandal for 30 years. His new book is entitled Britain's Shame – Mountbatten, MI5, the Belfast Boys' Home Sex Abuse Scandal and the British Cover-Up.
He joined Ciarán Dunbar in the studio.
