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Abusers should be made 'terrified to commit the offence' - survivor

Chris PageIreland correspondent
News imageBBC Nikella has shoulder length brown hair. She is sitting on a greychair in a cream-coloured living room. She is wearing a white top with a black and brown spot pattern. A cabinet with a lamp sitting on top are in the background.BBC
Nikella Holmes, who is a survivor of abuse, wants a public inquiry

Abuse would be stopped if "perpetrators are made to be terrified to commit the offence," a survivor has said.

Nikella Holmes and other survivors were giving evidence to a Stormont committee, which heard that an independent public inquiry into child abuse in churches is a "key recommendation" of unpublished research on the matter.

Nikella was abused by a youth leader at her former church, Gary Thompson, who was jailed in 2024.

She spoke to the Executive Office Committee, which examines the work of the department headed by the first and deputy first ministers.

News imageTony is wearing a jacket and a stripped shirt. He's standing outside.
Tony Gribben, who was abused by Fr Malachy Finegan, says an inquiry should be driven by "truth, justice and accountability"

They have called for three research reports, which were sent to the ministers last July, to be published.

Nikella, from the Interfaith Clerical Abuse Survivors Group, said: "We have the evidence sitting there, ready to go, about how we can make changes to make our churches safe."

The Ballymena woman told the committee: "We have all the tools at hand, so I just want to get to work."

Another survivor Tony Gribben, who was abused by the Catholic priest Father Malachy Finnegan, said the recommendations in the studies were "very clear and very simple" and included a public inquiry.

He said an inquiry should be driven by "truth, justice and accountability", and should be carried out in focused modules.

The research was commissioned by the devolved government to help ministers to consider policy on the issue.

One piece gathered the stories of survivors of abuse in what are termed "faith settings" – which can include churches, schools and other places where clergy and leaders in religious organisations abused children.

Another report focused on historical records – and a third examined safeguarding policies and practices in the faith sector.

'What's the hold-up?'

Tony, from the Dromore Group of survivors, said survivors wanted to meet the first and deputy first ministers.

He went on: "What's the hold-up? One of the hold-ups could be budget, but let's sit down and talk about that."

Patrick Corrigan from Amnesty International said the research was the "most comprehensive piece of work done yet" on clerical child abuse in Northern Ireland.

He said the recent revelations about safeguarding failures in the Presbyterian Church showed "this is not simply a matter of historical abuse – it's a present-day reality."