Latest news with #MagdaleneLaundries
Forbes
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Fiona Shaw Talks ‘Hot Milk': ‘It's About The Nature Of Being'
Fiona Shaw and Emma Mackey in 'Hot Milk' In Hot Milk, directed by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Fiona Shaw portrays Rose, a woman with a strange illness, who just moved to a seaside town in Spain with her daughter, Sofia, portrayed by Emma Mackey. Rose is in a wheelchair and suffers from chronic pain. During their stay in Spain, the two women meet with a new doctor to try and find the cause of Rose's inability to walk. This article contains important spoilers past this point Rose needs Sofia's help throughout the day, whether it is to bring her a glass of water or just to leave the house. When speaking with Shaw over Zoom, she told me that the physicality and Rose's state of mind 'were so profoundly connected to her syndrome.' She added: 'I took some classes with a choreographer and we spoke to a lot of people who suffered from this syndrome, not being able to move, you know, it's logical rather than physiological. There was this tick that I had to perfect and it also comes with pain, which is actually much harder to act, because when you don't feel pain, you don't feel pain.' She added: 'You know, people who are in pain often look like they're in pain, and I worked on that, because some of her irritability is connected to being in pain.' Rose's past is very mysterious and she hardly talks about it, even to her daughter. As Shaw explained, when her new doctor tries to find a link between her physical pain and her state of mind, Rose shuts him down immediately. At the end of the movie, we learn that Rose's sister, Mary, who had supposedly died before Rose could even remember her, was actually Rose's mother. Seing that Rose is Irish, I asked the actress if she thought that Mary had been taken away to a Magdalene Laundry. The Magdalene Laundries were religious institutes open in Ireland from the 1920s to 1996. Held by the Catholic Church, these institutes were a place where young women who got pregnant outside of marriage, were sent to perform unpaid work in terrible conditions. Once they had given birth, most of the babies were taken away from their mothers, and the babies would either die of neglect, or be sold to foreign families. 'Hot Milk' Even if Hot Milk doesn't explicitly mentions the institutes, we might think that this is what happened to Rose's mother. Shaw said, 'Rebecca was keen to keeping Rose Irish, and keep the past a classic Irish story of repressed abandonment.' Shaw also declared that this is a 'well-known story of that period.' She added: 'We bury things, you know they say that 96% or something of our brain is buried, and I sometimes think about that. We cannot access the subconscious except through tricks. I mean that's what Jung says.' Shaw also explained that what we do, even our gestures when we talk, might all come from our subconscious and that it is what is probably going on with Rose. She said, 'You really don't know what's pulling the strings way down deep in ourselves. But Rose doesn't willfully hide it, it's a shame.' While the mother and daughter relationship is a major arc in the film, Hot Milk is also a story about self-discovery and breaking-free from our daily lives, obligations, past and even our mental load. Shaw said, 'I think like all good films, and I do think it's a good film, it's about something more, I mean of course the mother and daughter relationship is there, but it's about the nature of being, and I'm really glad that you said that it stayed with you, because it stayed with me when I saw it. I think there's a desolation in the middle of it and a bravery. I mean characters are characters, you're a character, I'm a charater, but actually what it does is when you put characters together, the truth is being revealed or released.' Sofia doesn't really know her father, she saw him a couple of times in her life. One night, she has an argument with her mother and decides to go and visit her father, who lives with his new wife and child. While talking with her father, Sofia learns things about her parents that Rose had never shared with her. Is there an unreliable narrator in the film? Or is truth just a matter of perspective with these characters? Shaw said, 'You know when Sofia says 'My father said you used to play chess' and Rose says 'We didn't.' Who is right? In a couple, one person says 'We used to do that' the other says, 'No we didn't!' Which is true? We just don't know, people remember things differently.' Sofia took a break from her studies to take care of her mother. In the way Mackey portrays Sofia, we can see how tormented she feels. On the one hand, she wants to be with her mother and make sure she is okay, and on the other hand, the two women often argue and Sofia feels like she is suffocating. When the daughter tries to take some time for herself, the mother is constantly calling out for her, which is why Sofia is so conflicted about the idea of going back to school, knowing her mother needs help all the time. 'Hot Milk' 'I just got that actually, but it's very hard to concentrate for Sofia. My mother used to play the piano and it was very hard to study when my mother played the piano,' Shaw said. She added: 'We can say the mother is very selfish, but people in pain are selfish.' At the end of the film, Sofia has a mental breakdown and is extremely worried for her mother. Indeed, Sofia saw her mother walking alone in the afternoon, which weirdly happens every now and then. When Sofia comes home and finds her mother in the wheelchair, Rose explains that it is because she doesn't want to raise Sofia's hopes up. Sofia forces her mother to get in the car with her, and the two women have one of the most honest conversations they ever had. In a shocking final move, Sofia takes Rose out of the car, puts her on the wheelchair, and leaves her in the middle of the road, at night, as a truck is dangerously approaching. Sofia begs her mother to stand up, and fight for her life. We don't know if Rose ever finds the strength to stand up, as the movie cuts to credits with Sofia walking away from her mother. Shaw said, 'I saw the film twice and I thought the opposite on each occasion. It depends on the way you watch the film on a certain night. Once I thought 'That's it, she's dead.' The second time, I thought she got up. I don't know. I think Rebecca likes it like that, I think she has done that really well because I literally had two different experiences.'' Shaw's impressive career in theatre, on television and on the big screen ranges from Harry Potter to Killing Eve, Fleabag and more recently Bad Sisters, Echo Valley and Andor. She said, 'I was very proud and pleased to play in Hot Milk, it's very nice for me, in my age group, to be playing a leading part in a film. I really embraced it, I'm grateful to Rebecca for inviting me. I played so many leading parts in the theatre, that it's fantastic when you're asked again to carry the main bulk of the evening. So here's to more of these big parts, even though I enjoy playing the visitors too.'
RTÉ News
24-06-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Many survivors distressed over eligibility requirements for Mother and Baby scheme
Eligibility requirements currently part of the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme have caused anger and distress to many survivors, according to the Special Advocate for Survivors. The issue has contributed to further re-traumatisation of some, according to Patricia Carey who has published her first annual report. Ms Carey was appointed in March last year to ensure that the collective interests and voices of survivors of institutional abuse are heard and inform government actions and policies. The role encompasses Mother and Baby Institutions, County Home Institutions, Magdalene Laundries, Industrial and Reformatory School Institutions, and related institutions, and those adopted, boarded out or the subject of an illegal birth registration. During her first year in the position, the Special Advocate met with over 1,300 survivors of institutional abuse and forced family separation in Ireland and overseas. The report states that eligibility requirements have "enforced a hierarchy of suffering according to arbitrary criteria". Exclusions highlighted by survivors have included being boarded out, fostered out or placed 'at nurse' as children; survivors who died before the State Apology on 13 January 2021, preventing the families of those who have died from making an application for compensation; children who spent less than 180 days in an institution; those affected by work payments being limited to all County Homes but only two Mother and Baby Home Institutions. The report notes that many survivors deemed eligible under the current terms of the scheme and who have received redress, shared their strong feelings of "distress and guilt" in applying for and accepting redress, when others in the same institutions had been left behind. The Special Advocate has strongly recommended "the urgent expansion" of the current redress scheme. During the year it was also brought to the attention of the Special Advocate that there is a lot of misinformation surrounding the Magdalen Restorative Justice Ex-Gratia Scheme. The report notes that it is not widely known that the scheme is still open to receiving applications and that there is no time limit to apply to the scheme. The Special Advocate has called on anyone who might be eligible for this redress scheme to apply. Accessing records When it comes to accessing records and files, Ms Carey has stressed urgency in the report due to many survivors spending decades searching for information. In some instances, survivors have died before gaining access to their records. The Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022 provided a right of access to original birth certificates, birth and early life and care information for people who were born in a Mother and Baby or County Home Institution, and those adopted, boarded out, the subject of an illegal birth registration, or who otherwise had questions in relation to their origins. However, the Special Advocate has heard from hundreds of Survivors and Affected Persons who do not have access to the records related to the time they spent in institutions or related to their experience of forced family separation. In some instances, survivors have been unable to access records relating to their birth and early life and care, education, health and medical records, and their placement for adoption in Ireland and abroad, due to the records being destroyed, moved, or in private or religious ownership. Survivors also expressed ongoing challenges in finding accurate information in their search for details of family members, as well as difficulties in accessing records such as burial and death certificates for children that died in institutions. The Special Advocate has noted that she receives frequent communications from survivors and their family members seeking information and records relating to relatives, often as part of decades-long searches, with some unsure if a relative died or is still alive somewhere. "This is causing ongoing pain and suffering to people seeking information and closure on their family search," according to the report. Feedback from Survivors and Affected Persons to the Special Advocate is "consistent" in relation to the difficulties in understanding where to begin looking for and accessing records. Information on where records are held and how individuals and their families can access the records related to them is not clearly available, understood or explained in plain English. The report points out that this is further exacerbated when people are based overseas and are unfamiliar with Irish state structures, as well as for people with limited literacy and for those who experience digital poverty. The report recommends more supports to access and understand the records. It is the position of the Special Advocate that the State must ensure "full access" to all records which are held in private and religious ownership. Burial and memorialisation The report has noted ongoing communications from survivors and survivor groups to the Special Advocate in relation to the need for dignified burial and the sensitive treatment of mass graves, unmarked graves and sites of burial across institutions in Ireland. "This subject continues to cause immense distress, pain and upset to Survivors and Affected Persons who lack information and either a place of burial or a space for remembering family members," according to the report. Many have emphasised the pressing need for Government to investigate the children that died in Mother and Baby Institutions and to establish as much information about the location of burial sites at these institutions as possible, including access to professional expertise and survey work, as appropriate. Ms Carey recommended including Survivors and Affected Persons in all the decision-making about the National Centre for Remembrance. The Department of Children has announced the National Centre Steering Group would be expanded to include four survivor representatives. Housing Another concern raised in the annual report relates to housing. The report says that good quality, affordable social housing is critical to survivors being fully supported to remain living in their own homes for as long as possible. A significant percentage are residing in or are on waiting lists for social housing and live in areas of social deprivation. A major concern centres around secondary institutionalisation in later life in nursing or care homes. Therefore, Ms Carey has said it is critical that survivors have access to good quality, affordable social housing and are fully supported to remain living in their own homes for as long as possible.
The Independent
17-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Plans for mother and baby home victims and survivors deemed ‘kick in the teeth'
Proposals for victims and survivors of mother and baby institutions, Magdalene Laundries and workhouses have been described as a 'kick in the teeth'. Concern has been expressed that 'huge swathes' of potential applicants to a long awaited redress scheme are set to be excluded. More than 14,000 women and girls are thought to have passed through the institutions, with many found to have been mistreated, held against their will and forced to give up children for adoption. They were run by the Catholic Church, religious orders, some Protestant denominations as well as the State, with some in operation until 1995. First Minister Michelle O'Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly on Monday introduced legislation to establish an inquiry into the institutions and an associated redress scheme. Ms O'Neill said they hope the legislation 'demonstrates our sincere commitment to respecting and fulfilling the wishes of those who for many decades have suffered and been silenced'. The Executive Bill is to establish a statutory public inquiry and a statutory redress scheme at an estimated cost of £80 million, which includes almost £60 million in initial redress payments to cover about 6,600 claims. Each eligible claimant is to 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 September 29, 2011. A further Individually Assessed Payment (IAP) for the specific harm suffered by an individual is to follow the public inquiry. The ministers also met with survivors of the institutions on Monday. However some who attended the meeting expressed concern over those who are excluded by the proposals. The legal firm KRW Law, which represents many of the victims and survivors, described 'huge disquiet over the prospective exclusion of many survivors'. They said the cut-off for posthumous claims for deceased birth mothers and children of 2011 'cuts out a huge swathe of prospective applicants', while victims of work houses appear to be excluded, and the 'blanket removal' of foster care home survivors. There is also concern around the limit on the sum proposed by way of interim payment with no allowance for inflation. Solicitor Aine Rice, of KRW's historic abuse team, said they reject the current proposals as 'unfit for purpose'. She said: 'So much work has been put in by many people to get to this stage only for it to be undone in one fell swoop. 'There's an insensitivity underpinning all of this which makes it galling. 'We reject the current proposals as unfit for purpose. More, much more, needs done to address the imbalance in play here. We need to see a complete U-turn by the time we reach the next stage of the Bill, but time is running out fast. 'We are told that many are thinking of leaving the consultation forum and threatening protest.' Institution survivor Marie Arbuckle said the latest proposals are a 'kick in the teeth for many survivors'. She added: 'It seems to me that the Government hasn't listened to us properly at all. 'Why do a consultation in the first place if the wishes and hopes of survivors aren't taken on board? 'I don't think lessons have been learned from what happened in the south of Ireland. 'The understandable drive to save money has simply gone too far, and all at the expense of the wishes of victims. 'We have lost all confidence in the process we worked so hard on for the last three years.'
BreakingNews.ie
17-06-2025
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Plans for mother and baby home victims and survivors deemed ‘kick in the teeth'
Proposals for victims and survivors of mother and baby institutions, Magdalene Laundries and workhouses have been described as a 'kick in the teeth'. Concern has been expressed that 'huge swathes' of potential applicants to a long awaited redress scheme are set to be excluded. Advertisement More than 14,000 women and girls are thought to have passed through the institutions, with many found to have been mistreated, held against their will and forced to give up children for adoption. They were run by the Catholic Church, religious orders, some Protestant denominations as well as the State, with some in operation until 1995. First Minister Michelle O'Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly on Monday introduced legislation to establish an inquiry into the institutions and an associated redress scheme. First Minister Michelle O'Neill, left, and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly introduced the legislation on Monday (Liam McBurney/PA) Ms O'Neill said they hope the legislation 'demonstrates our sincere commitment to respecting and fulfilling the wishes of those who for many decades have suffered and been silenced'. Advertisement The Executive Bill is to establish a statutory public inquiry and a statutory redress scheme at an estimated cost of £80 million, which includes almost £60 million in initial redress payments to cover about 6,600 claims. Each eligible claimant is to 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 September 29th, 2011. A further Individually Assessed Payment (IAP) for the specific harm suffered by an individual is to follow the public inquiry. The ministers also met with survivors of the institutions on Monday. Advertisement However some who attended the meeting expressed concern over those who are excluded by the proposals. The legal firm KRW Law, which represents many of the victims and survivors, described 'huge disquiet over the prospective exclusion of many survivors'. They said the cut-off for posthumous claims for deceased birth mothers and children of 2011 'cuts out a huge swathe of prospective applicants', while victims of work houses appear to be excluded, and the 'blanket removal' of foster care home survivors. There is also concern around the limit on the sum proposed by way of interim payment with no allowance for inflation. Advertisement Solicitor Aine Rice, of KRW's historic abuse team, said they reject the current proposals as 'unfit for purpose'. She said: 'So much work has been put in by many people to get to this stage only for it to be undone in one fell swoop. 'There's an insensitivity underpinning all of this which makes it galling. 'We reject the current proposals as unfit for purpose. More, much more, needs done to address the imbalance in play here. We need to see a complete U-turn by the time we reach the next stage of the Bill, but time is running out fast. Advertisement 'We are told that many are thinking of leaving the consultation forum and threatening protest.' Institution survivor Marie Arbuckle said the latest proposals are a 'kick in the teeth for many survivors'. She added: 'It seems to me that the Government hasn't listened to us properly at all. 'Why do a consultation in the first place if the wishes and hopes of survivors aren't taken on board? 'I don't think lessons have been learned from what happened in the south of Ireland. 'The understandable drive to save money has simply gone too far, and all at the expense of the wishes of victims. 'We have lost all confidence in the process we worked so hard on for the last three years.'
BBC News
17-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Mother and baby homes survivors 'excluded again' by Executive Bill
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 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 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 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 Executive Bill will establish a statutory public inquiry and a statutory redress estimated cost is £80m, which includes almost £60m in initial redress payments to cover approximately 6,600 redress 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 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 were more than a dozen such mother-and-baby homes in Northern of them had Catholic-run workhouses known as Magdalene Laundries, where women frequently had to do exhausting, unpaid 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 women and girls were separated from their children by placing them in children's homes, boarding them out (fostering) or through was also the issue of the cross-border movement of women and children in and out of the last institution in Northern Ireland closed in 1990.
