Michelle O’Neill, the First Minister of the Northern Irish Assembly, announced in late June a 12 week consultation on proposals to establish a public inquiry and a financial redress scheme. The proposed inquiry into the operation of mother and baby homes and abuse perpetrated on residents, will be the latest examination of institutional abuse which has taken place at public inquiries worldwide.

Research in 2021 showed that at least 10,000 pregnant women and teenage girls passed through mother and baby homes in Northern Ireland between 1922 and 1990. They were regularly subjected to physical emotional, and sometimes, sexual abuse while resident at the homes. After giving birth their children were most often placed in children’s homes, were fostered or given up for adoption, to couples living as far away as America. 

Ms O’Neill said that the public consultation would gather a wide range of views, and help shape the legislation necessary to set up the inquiry, which she hoped would be drafted and go before the Assembly during “this calendar year”. 

In addition, Ms O’Neill highlighted that handling redress would be important, saying that they should “focus on learning from the redress scheme set up for victims and survivors of historical institutional abuse of children” and that “these institutions have to pay redress because that is also part of the healing process”. She went on to say that officials had already been engaging with institutions responsible, as to the issue of compensation.

With much criticism having been levelled at previous inquiries for having ‘side-lined’ the issue of redress leading to long delays in survivors receiving compensation, it is clear that the First Minister hopes that the mother and baby homes inquiry, and accompanying redress scheme, will not fall into the same trap.