VETERAN journalist Chris Moore said it was a "humble" experience to speak at Féile an Phobail last month about his new book on the shocking Kincora scandal.

For over four decades the story of the extraordinary evil that occurred at the Kincora Boys’ Home in East Belfast in the 1970s, and the shocking attempts by MI5 to cover it up, have haunted our political and social terrain.

Award-winning former BBC journalist Chris Moore has been working on the story since it first emerged in 1980, and has uncovered a horrific catalogue of failed opportunities to put an end to the sadistic activities of the men who were running the home, in particular those of prominent Orangeman and MI5 informant William McGrath.

What has emerged over the course of Moore’s investigation, in which he has gained exclusive access to witnesses, secret documents and whistleblowers within the British intelligence services, is that not only were the boys in Kincora systematically sexually abused, but that some were forced into a countrywide paedophile ring, whose members included Lord Louis Mountbatten.

In his new book, 'Kincora: Britain's Shame', Chris also exposes MI5’s attempts to cover up what actually happened and that the organisation knew as early as the 1970s that the boys in Kincora were being abused.

During Féile, Chris sat down with Mark Thompson from Relatives for Justice to speak about the book to a packed audience at St Mary's University College.

Speaking to the Andersonstown News, Chris said: "It was a new experience for me, one that I was very nervous about, but I have to say, Mark Thompson was very helpful in making it so relaxed.

"At the end of the talk, I got a standing ovation which was something I have never experienced before. It was a very humbling experience.

"The book itself was an attempt to pull together a number of strands about Kincora that aren't necessarily the way in which they've been covered over the years associated with Kincora.

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"I don't think we have got to the heart or truth of Kincora yet. I hope this book illustrates the power of MI5 to influence government.

"In 1983, the government wanted to have a judicial review into Kincora. A legal advisor for MI5 argued very strongly that there should be no inquiry that compiled MI5 to provide documents or personnel. They wanted a social services inquiry that would look at the role of social services and care and that is exactly what happened instead of the failure to alert the and stop the sexual abuse and violent rape of young boys in Kincora."

As for what happens next in terms of Kincora, Chris believes the truth may never come out.

"I am 75-years-old now and I don't know if I will ever see the truth of this story," he added.

"There are government files on Kincora which have been locked away until 2065 and 2085 and I will certainly never see those days.

"I don't think anyone who survived the sexual abuse in Kincora will ever see those days.

"I think it may be an attempt to bury the truth once and for all, because by the time we get to 2065, who is going to be there, and who is going to be interested in it, even aware of it?"

Copies of the book Kincora: Britain's Shame by Chris Moore are available from Relatives for Justice, 39 Glen Road, Belfast, BT11 8BB.