‘Catalogue of failures’ in Stormont abuse probe

A STORMONT report into clerical abuse and mother and baby homes has been slammed as “shambolic” by Amnesty International.

A joint probe was agreed between the Executive Office and the Department of Health in February 2016.

Amnesty International, however, claim a series of Freedom of Information requests have exposed “a catalogue of failures” with the probe.

These include the group having never met with victims, not holding a meeting since last January, being without a chairperson for almost a year, and not commissioning any research into clerical abuse.

Norah Gibbons stepped down as chair in March last year and efforts to find a replacement are ongoing.

Amnesty International also claimed the probe’s timetable has badly slipped, meaning it would be an extra year before even a partial report is delivered to government ministers or senior civil servants.

Patrick Corrigan is the pro- gramme director for Amnesty International in Northern Ireland.

He said women from mother and baby homes in Northern Ireland had told Amnesty International they suffered “arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, and the forced adoption and trafficking of their babies”.

In addition, he said “countless child abuse victims” had come forward to reveal suffering at the hands of abusive clerics and “gross failures” by church and state authorities.

The Freedom of Information requests were made by Eunan Duffy, who was born in the Marianvale mother and baby home in Newry in 1968.

He was taken from his birth mother against her will, with only a few minutes contact before being placed for adoption.

Mr Duffy said victims had been “betrayed” by those receiving public funds to address the issues.

He said it was “farcical” that two years later, victims were resorting to Freedom of Information requests for answers.

The Executive has been contacted for comment but had yet to respond at the time of going to print.