Against a bright winter sun demolition of a Belfast building that became a byword for evil was almost complete on Wednesday.
Only the upstairs facade of the former Kincora Boys’ Home remained as diggers moved in to clear the site where dozens of vulnerable children were subjected to horrific sexual abuse over decades.
Lives were ruined in this place, one former resident said as he watched on.
People living in tree-lined streets close to the derelict building in the east of the city walked quickly past as teams of workmen took breaks on the third day of demolition work at 236 Upper Newtownards road.
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The site has been bought by a property developer and granted planning permission for apartments.
“It’s been a blot on the landscape and it’s a great day it’s coming down,” a pensioner living in the area for 40 years told The Irish Times.
“It’s quite horrific what went on in that place. And I’m sure there’s a lot we don’t know.
“It’s the victims that live with the memories that are important. The building has connotations for them. Every time they would come up the road they would look at it. I’m just pleased it’s coming down at last.”
Opened in 1958 by the local health authority to provide accommodation for boys of working age (15-18) from abusive homes, Kincora closed in 1980 when sex abuse allegations first emerged.
Long-standing “cover-up” claims by British intelligence services and allegations of collision by the North’s security forces with those linked to the scandal were rejected by the Northern Ireland Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry (HIA) in January 2020.
The HIA concluded that at least 39 boys were abused but that the abuse was limited to the actions of three staff members.
[ Police inertia on Kincora Boys’ Home sex abuse complaints suggests ‘cover up’Opens in new window ]
In 1981 three men were jailed for abusing 11 boys.
Gary Hoy is among Kincora’s victims and watched on yesterday as the final part of the building fell.
“I’m just glad it’s knocked down, it should have been knocked down years ago,” he told the BBC.
“But whether it’s knocked down or it’s standing, the thoughts of the things that happened in there, they’ll never go away.
“It’ll always be there - I go to bed at night thinking about it, wake up the next morning and all those thoughts are still in my head.
“I’m 61 now, my life ruined over that place.”
Two months ago a highly critical report by the Police Ombudsman found that four RUC officers failed in their duty to protect victims of sexual abuse at Kincora in the 1970s.
Complaints made about the police to investigate abuse allegations were legitimate and justified, the Ombudsman said.
Solicitor Claire McKeegan represents Mr Hoy and six other Kincora survivors.
She told The Irish Times that the day had been distressing for them.
“But the fact they will no longer have to walk past that place comes as a long overdue comfort,” she said.
She paid tribute to those who had campaigned for over a decade for the building’s destruction.
“I recall our Kincora survivor clients’ meeting with former first minister Peter Robinson, and explaining their distress that the building where they were violated still stood in their community and triggered those childhood horrors inflicted on so many.
“Unfortunately, this was not prioritised like so often when it comes to the needs and health of abuse survivors in Northern Ireland.”
