NORTHERN IRELAND
Irish Times
Kathryn Torney
Northern Ireland’s mother and baby homes closed decades ago, but their legacy continues to have an impact on birth mothers and their children.
Oonagh McAleer is chairwoman of the group Birth Mothers and Their Children for Justice NI, which is calling for a public inquiry into the former homes.
Ms McAleer was 17 and pregnant when she was sent to live in Marianvale mother and baby home in Newry in 1979. The home, run by the Good Shepherd Sisters, opened in the 1950s and closed in the early 1980s.
Ms McAleer, from Co Tyrone, told Belfast-based data journalism project Detail Data: “I was in the early stages of pregnancy and I was sent there initially by the priest and social services. I was brought there by a social worker in a car. I didn’t know where I was going.
“After a couple of hours at Marianvale, I realised that I was being put away. I didn’t know how long it was going to be for and I thought I was never going to get out of there.”
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