Women urged to talk about life in mother and baby homes in NI

FORMER residents of Magdalene laundries and mother and baby homes in Northern Ireland have been urged to take part in new research.

Hundreds of local women were forced to stay in facilities run by the state, as well as Catholic and Protestant organisations.

Relatively little is known about how the organisations here were run compared to those in the Irish Republic. The Department of Health commissioned a yearlong research project to build up a detailed picture of relevant institutions, which may be used to decide if a full public inquiry is needed here.

The researchers have also confirmed they will address the allegations of non-voluntary adoptions.

Last month, a BBC investigation reported that some children may have been moved out of the UK without their mothers’ consent from Marianvale mother and baby home in Newry, which Researchers Dr Leanne McCormick and Professor Sean O’Connell

operated between 1955 and 1984.

Professor Sean O’Connell from Queen’s University, Belfast, who is leading the research with Dr Leanne McCormick from Ulster University, said: “A smaller number of residential homes operated as so-called Magdalene laundries and a large number of women worked in them, for various lengths of time.

“We know a lot about the general history of these mother and baby homes and Magdalene homes; for example, they were all closed by the 1980s and 1990s. However, much is unknown about the circumstances in which young women found themselves in these institutions.”

Dr McCormick urged women who experienced life as a resident of a mother and baby home and/or a Magdalene laundry in Northern Ireland to come forward.

Others with dealings with these institutions at any point before the 1990s have been encouraged to take part, including clergy, members of religious orders, social workers, family welfare officers and medical staff.

Dr McCormick said the research would be conducted in a sensitive manner and there will be support systems in place for those who choose to share their personal testimony.

“The identities of all interviewees will also be anonymous and will not be revealed without their written permission,” she added.

A list of institutions being examined is available at www.belfasttelegraph. co.uk