Amnesty International has said that it expects some of the most harrowing evidence of child abuse to emerge over the coming weeks at the Historic Institutional Abuse inquiry, as it examines the former De La Salle Boys' Home, Rubane House, based in Kircubbin, Co Down.

Patrick Corrigan, Northern Ireland Programme Director of Amnesty International, said:

"We expect that the following few weeks will reveal some of the most harrowing evidence of abuse yet heard in the course of the inquiry.

"Based on the testimony Amnesty International has previously heard from former residents of Rubane House, we expect that the inquiry will bring forward stories of terrifying physical, sexual and mental abuse suffered by children at the home.

"We already know that notorious paedophile Fr Brendan Smyth was allowed to abuse vulnerable children at the home. But, from the terrible tales of abuse we have heard from former child residents, Fr Smyth was not the only predator operating at the home.

"Today it is also worth remembering that, while children abused in a residential homes by priests like Fr Brendan Smyth now have this Inquiry, clerical child abuse victims who suffered at a parish level are still waiting for the First and Deputy First Minister to agree to a similar process to acknowledge their pain."

Note: Patrick Corrigan of Amnesty International will be at Banbridge Court House today for the opening session of the inquiry hearings into Rubane House.