Mother and baby homes survivors 'excluded again' by Executive Bill

BBC News

17-06-2025

A bill to establish a redress scheme for victims of mother and baby homes has been criticised by a survivor as it excludes "thousands" of women and children who suffered.Mark McCollum was one of thousands of children born to unmarried mothers in Northern Ireland who were sent to institutions. More than 10,000 pregnant women and girls passed through the secretive institutions, which were largely run by religious orders, from the 1920s until the 1990s.A bill to establish an inquiry into mother and baby homes, Magdalene Laundries and Workhouses - and an associated redress scheme - passed its first stage in Stormont Assembly on Monday.
'No rational'
Mark McCollum was born in Marianvale and then taken across the border to an orphanage in County Donegal.He said survivors were "astonished yesterday at the omissions" in the bill."There's an arbitrary date for exclusion of... 29 September 2011, so anybody that died prior to that are not going to be included in the process," he said."That excludes thousands of potential women and girls and their adoptive children who passed away."What is the justification for that other than saving money," he said, adding: "There's no rational for this."
Mr McCollum said before seeing the bill, there was "a sense of optimism" but that is no longer the case.He added that mothers and adoptees have "been silenced and stigmatised for so long" and it feel likes they've "been excluded again".He also said the bill "undermines its potential to deliver truth, acknowledgment and justice for the survivors".
What is in the bill?
It comes after a consultation on proposals to establish an inquiry into mother-and-baby homes was launched last year.The Executive Bill will establish a statutory public inquiry and a statutory redress scheme.The estimated cost is £80m, which includes almost £60m in initial redress payments to cover approximately 6,600 redress claims.Each eligible person will receive a payment of £10,000 and a £2,000 payment will be made to each eligible family member on behalf of a loved one who has died since 29 September 2011.A further Individually Assessed Payment (IAP) for the specific harm suffered by an individual will follow the public inquiry.The executive office said a process was already underway to appoint a designate chair of the inquiry.
'Sincere commitment'
First Minister Michelle O'Neill said: "These institutions and practices were a product of systemic misogyny. The regime inflicted on women and girls, many while heavily pregnant, was appalling and constituted cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment." She added that not only did women have their rights "grossly denied within these institutions, so too did their children, now adults. They too were failed on every level."O'Neill said that the legislation hopefully demonstrates a "sincere commitment" to those "have suffered and been silenced". She thanked those who campaigned for justice.
Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said: "We deeply regret the pain and suffering of victims and survivors and today is a testament to their courage as we introduce this important and significant legislation."She added that victims have waited long for answers and that they will "seek to uncover the truth and hold those responsible to account"."We remain committed to addressing this dark period of our past and we want to encourage everyone affected to come forward and be heard," she said.
What were the mother-and-baby homes?
There was once a network of institutions across the island of Ireland which housed unmarried women and their babies at a time when pregnancy outside marriage was viewed as scandalous.There were more than a dozen such mother-and-baby homes in Northern Ireland.Three of them had Catholic-run workhouses known as Magdalene Laundries, where women frequently had to do exhausting, unpaid labour.Researchers found that a third of those admitted were under the age of 19, with the youngest child to be admitted aged 12.
A number were the victims of sexual crime, including rape and incest, and "strenuous physical labour" was expected of residents late into their pregnancies.Many women and girls were separated from their children by placing them in children's homes, boarding them out (fostering) or through adoption.There was also the issue of the cross-border movement of women and children in and out of the institutions.The last institution in Northern Ireland closed in 1990.