When I first read parts of the Northern Ireland Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) inquiry, led by Sir Anthony Hart, I was shocked at the amount of disinformation in it. I spoke with the late Brian Garrett, a lawyer who was nearby. I told him I intended to take legal action against the Inquiry, but he said the Inquiry had privilege like a Court of Law and could not be sued.
Among the disinformation used was that Chris Ryder had said my family inherited a prosperous business. This was entirely false.
Hart also claimed I was homosexual, had a homosexual relationship with William McGrath and was involved in homosexual acts with him. These claims are totally false. I am not gay, am not anti-gay either but I did more to stop the abuse perpetrated by McGrath than anyone else, which was why McGrath was reported to have asked gunmen to assassinate me.
McGrath was not homosexual but a paedophile who abused boys and some women and children from a children’s meetings at Faith House Finaghy. It is estimated he abused a hundred or even hundreds of boys and several women. He worked with British Intelligence which could explain why he was protected.
McGrath claimed membership of a group known as the London and Belfast Committee (LBC), and invited me to join, but I refused as I saw it as a gateway to a hardline element in MI5, so I had no part in it.
For 40 years (1941-1981) McGrath ran a mission the “Christian Fellowship Centre and Irish Emancipation Crusade” (CFCIEC) at Faith House in various parts of Belfast. The most impressive building was the mansion at Finaghy which was bought with a loan. The guarantor withdrew his guarantee, and McGrath expected me to replace it but I was warned I could be held responsible for all his debts as I was supposed to be in partnership.
McGrath was an insatiable abuser of boys and some women. He disguised the abuse as “healing”. He advised boys to avoid girls, lest they waste their substance like the Prodigal son. Two women said he “tried” to have sex with them.
After decades of abuse at Faith House he spent about ten years at Kincora Boys’s Home in Belfast where he and others brutally abused boys in their care. Such brutality was unknown at Faith House but could have taken place in strict secrecy.
The Kincora abusers pleaded guilty except McGrath, who at first pleaded not guilty. His Counsel, the late Desmond Boal QC spoke with him, and I understand warned him that other matters might be raised if he did not plead guilty. He pleaded guilty and was given a four-year sentence but was released in two.
The RUC’s DC Jim Cullen investigated McGrath’s activities, and I worked with him, but he was under intense pressure from the RUC not to work with me. I knew too much so he pretended to be less often in contact. He tried to hide the truth, and things became difficult when fellow RUC hindered his work, and some may have been members of Tara, the secret paramilitary organisation commanded by McGrath.
A young man abused at a tender age told me out of the blue he had been abused by McGrath as a child but some RUC officers stationed at Donegall Pass told Cullen not to dig too deeply on McGrath.
The young man courageously agreed to speak with the RUC’s DC Jim Cullen at Donegall Pass RUC Station and spoke openly and Cullen and I heard every word, I remained present during the “interview.” DC Cullen asked no questions and never intervened. The young man took big risks, as the RUC at Donegall Pass, had supplied bullets to McGrath for Tara. A short time later DC Jim Cullen said the “interview” never took place. I understood his fears, but the young witness felt badly let down and I felt responsible having introduced him. DC Cullen, admitted to Journalist Chris Moore that the interview did take place.
One of McGrath’s female volunteer assistants at his mission told me he had abused children from her Children’s meetings at Finaghy. I suspect he tried to abuse the young woman who told me McGrath had confronted her with two naked male volunteers at the mission. McGrath also admitted suggesting she fondle a boy’s legs as he worked on a ladder dressed in shorts in the grounds of Faith House.
DC Cullen was worried about fellow RUC officers at Donegall Pass who hindered his investigation into McGrath. Cullen asked me not to speak with him by phone as he believed he was being monitored and had to be careful. He asked me to tell the young man he would never be involved in this matter again. However, on the day Chris Moore launched his book on Kincora in 1996, DC Jim Cullen, told me that fellow RUC had taken him prisoner at Donegall Pass RUC Station. They held him captive in a room there, but had not searched him, so he drew his police weapon and forced his captors to release him.
After this DC Jim Cullen took ill and never returned to work, possibly because of the extreme stress he was under during his investigation. I spoke briefly with him, but he was very ill, and I felt I could not raise serious questions. I also knew the Tara’s leader’s thinking and his intention to prevent a full investigation or help see a peaceful future emerging in NI as he believed our bitter conflict was between ultimate good and evil. It was also reported that McGrath had asked gunmen to assassinate me when he was in jail. I understand that the reason for this was that I had to be stopped raising the issue of McGrath’ abuse.
Davy Payne admitted his intention to assassinate me but later apologised but then pointed an imaginary gun at me while pretending to pull the trigger.
Jay Wyatt, a Tara platoon leader warned that Tara planned to assassinate me at my shop, which I had relinquished so wasn’t there when the killers arrived.
Other assassins pretended to be workmen but looked like soldiers. They repaired one roof and offered to repair ours, but they were told this was unnecessary and left without approaching other neighbours. The lady whose roof was repaired showed her receipt and drew attention to the Shankill Road address. This I suspect, was meant to suggest that a Loyalist feud was involved, which was untrue. McGrath, who was reported to have asked for my assassination was almost certainly working with British Intelligence.
Before this I was working in a local Hospital to contribute to peace and earn some money. One day another UDR man was shot dead in the grounds. I felt at risk and left the UDR and never returned to the hospital. Thankfully I survived. I tried to speak with Cullen, but he was in no condition to continue. I was saddened that he was unable to finish the investogation. He faced a dilemma in that he wished to end the abuse of children and young people but faced the wrath of fellow RUC who wished to keep a lid firmly on the whole episode.