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The number of women who went through mother and baby homes in Northern Ireland is expected to be \u201csignificantly\u201d higher than previously estimated.<\/p>\nThe number of women who went through mother and baby homes in Northern Ireland is expected to be \u201csignificantly\u201d higher than previously estimated.<\/p>\n
Judith Gillespie, chairwoman of the inter-departmental working group on mother and baby homes, indicated the total will be more than 7,500, but stressed a recently completed research report should be seen first by the victims and survivors.<\/p>\n
Amnesty International said in addition to the numbers who went through mother and baby homes, thousands more experienced Magdalene Laundries and other women-specific institutions.<\/p>\n
Patrick Corrigan said he has \u201cno doubt\u201d the total figure that will emerge will be \u201csignificantly greater\u201d than 7,500.<\/p>\n
A research report by university academics has been completed, and Ms Gillespie\u2019s group is set to make recommendations to Stormont ministers before the end of the month.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we would all acknowledge this has taken longer than we had all hoped for, but there were a lot of complexities in the research,\u201d Ms Gillespie told the BBC.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccessing archive records was hugely sensitive given that they didn\u2019t have statutory powers so they had to persuade the institutions involved to allow access to highly sensitive personal records.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were also issues around adoption legislation and then of course we had to go through the right to respond process to allow the institutions a right to see the portions of the report that apply to them and to comment on any factual inaccuracies or unfair criticisms.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat process is now complete, I am pleased to say, and the research is ready for publication with ministerial approval.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Gillespie said the paper which the Stormont Executive will receive will include a \u201cfull range\u201d of options, including to publish the report and do nothing to a public inquiry.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first option, to publish the report and do nothing, is obviously not a desired option by anyone \u2026 but my determination as independent chair is that whatever option is selected by ministers, that victims and survivors should be at the center of that, and driving the option going forward,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The group was set up in 2017 to look at mother and baby homes and Magdalene Laundries in Northern Ireland, after they fell outside of the terms of reference of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry.<\/p>\n
Ms Gillespie said it is important to acknowledge there were mother and baby homes and Magdalene Laundries in Northern Ireland, a fact she said came as a shock to some.<\/p>\n
Amnesty say they have been pressing for a public inquiry into the matter since 2013.<\/p>\n
The last such institution closed in 1990. They were run across Northern Ireland by both Catholic and Protestant clergy.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin apologized to the survivors of homes in the Republic of Ireland, saying they had been failed by the State.<\/p>\n
He was speaking after a report by the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes found \u201cappalling\u201d levels of death.<\/p>\n
First minister Arlene Foster and deputy first minister Michelle O\u2019Neill are set to meet with the Republic’s Children\u2019s Minister Roderic O\u2019Gorman next week to consider \u201cany issues which have a cross-border dimension\u201d.<\/p>\n