Northern Ireland

Women in mother and baby homes in north 'experienced the same treatment as those in the Republic'

The Marianvale mother and baby home in Newry, Co Down
The Marianvale mother and baby home in Newry, Co Down The Marianvale mother and baby home in Newry, Co Down

WOMEN in mother and baby homes in Northern Ireland experienced the same treatment as those in the Republic, deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill has said.

A damning report published in the Republic on Tuesday found that around 9,000 children died in the homes - around 15 per cent of those admitted.

In 1943, 75 per cent of the children who were born or who were admitted to the Bessborough home in Cork died.

Similar homes, run by the Catholic Church, the Church of Ireland and the Salvation Army, existed in Northern Ireland until the 1980s.

Speaking at a meeting of the Executive Office Committee yesterday, DUP MLA Christopher Stalford said he believed the infant mortality rate in mother and baby homes in the north was around the same as those in the Republic.

“It’s likely that on this side of the border the figures will ultimately prove similar,” he said.

Ms O’Neill said she believed “what happened to women in the 26 counties is the same as what happened to women in the north”.

“It is just beyond belief that this is something that was a reality up until recent days.”

Deputy first minister Michelle O'Neill
Deputy first minister Michelle O'Neill Deputy first minister Michelle O'Neill

A long-delayed report into mother and baby homes and Magdalene laundries in Northern Ireland is to be published by the end of this month.

An inter-departmental working group into the homes, laundries and historical clerical child abuse was set up in 2016.

However, the report has been subject to delays and no public inquiry into the homes or laundries has been set up.

Ms O'Neill said it was "really, really important that victims and survivors are at the centre of what comes next".

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said yesterday: "The research into historical Mother and Baby Homes/Magdalene Laundries in Northern Ireland, undertaken jointly by Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University, is now complete.

"A paper will be brought to the Executive shortly for its consideration. Subject to Executive approval, it is intended to publish the research report before the end of January 2021."

In November, a woman who is taking legal action over the failure to set up an inquiry into mother and baby homes in the north told The Irish News her life was “destroyed” after her baby girl was adopted.

Mary O'Neill, which is not her real name, gave birth to a baby girl in 1979 while she was at Marianvale home in Newry, Co Down.

She said the child was adopted without her consent and alleged that deceased children were buried at the home.

A spokesman for the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, who ran Marianvale, said: “We wish to state that no babies were buried at Marianvale.

“Adoptions from Marianvale were in compliance with national legislation - each mother had the assistance of an independent social worker who would have been directly involved in the adoption process."