NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph
BY BRIAN HUTTON – 10 JANUARY 2015
Pressure is mounting on Northern Ireland to launch a public inquiry into decades of alleged abuse at so-called mother and baby homes after the Republic announced a three-year probe into more than 14 institutions.
The State inquiry is being set up after fresh revelations last year about a mass grave at a Catholic-run home for unmarried mothers in Tuam, Co Galway, where 796 infants died between 1925 and 1961. A team of three commissioners will investigate what happened to more than 35,000 women and children – mostly placed in homes after being ostracised by their families – between 1922 to 1998.
The causes of deaths at the homes, burials, vaccine trials carried out on children, how residents ended up there, how they were treated and where they went afterwards will all form part of the mammoth inquiry.
Former residents will be able to give evidence in private. Others compelled to give evidence face imprisonment or hefty fines if they fail to bear witness or produce requested documents.
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