https://www.impartialreporter.com/news/24655681.survivor-demand-justice-affected-mother-baby-homes/?ref=twtrec&fbclid=IwY2xjawF_SdNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHXC6ql4Ydut4ClHIti5wMGK0u3mUwoEcWBOcDamfRz8ZVnESxniEtvNpWA_aem_Kr1didb8M3Un9CJYLAkCPASurvivor demand justice for those affected by Mother and Baby Homes
17th October
“A cold place with an itchy blanket” is how one survivor of a mother-and-baby home described the place where she was born and separated from her mother.
Mechelle Dillon is one of those from this area who is leading the call for justice for thousands of women and children impacted by Northern Ireland'smother-and-baby homes, Magdalene Laundries, and Workhouses. Mrs. Dillon who lives outside Omagh was born in 1969 in Daisyhill Hospital in Newry after her mother, Brenda was placed in Marianvale Mother and Baby Home at the age of 21 before they were separated. Mechelle is the Secretary of the Birth Mothers and Their Children for Justice Northern Ireland group which was founded in 2013, the group seeks to get justice for all of those impacted by institutions such as mother-and-baby homes. The Executive Office of Northern Ireland is currently working toward a statutory Public Inquiry and Financial Redress Scheme for those impacted by mother-and-baby homes, Magdalene Laundries and Workhouses. She said: “We speak for the dead as well as the living, the dead don’t have a voice anymore. They were failed in life and they can’t be failed in death either.”
The scale is large and the group believes that there are survivors everywhere. She said: “If you went out and spoke to people about this, every person you speak to would know someone who has been affected or was adopted. Nearly every other house would know someone.”
Citing a report from Queen's University, Belfast, she said: “At least 10,500 women and young girls, some as young as the age of 12, had passed through the homes and institutions.”
Other figures suggest there could be as many as 13,500 women impacted by the homes. Reflecting on the scale of the institutions, Mechelle noted that the institutions were run on “both sides of the community” and there were around a dozen in Northern Ireland. However, there were none in the Fermanagh and Omagh area. Reflecting on the experience of her family, she said: “We call them homes, but they wouldn't really be homes, homes are somewhere nice, warm and comfortable, these were called cold places with itchy blankets".
She added: "I was in the home with my mother for about six weeks, until my mother then was passed on back home again, and I was placed into foster care and children's homes. In and out, in and out. Eventually, my mother met somebody, and he said that he would take her to England and get married so that she could get me back. He wasn't the father. I was about two when she got me back."
Brenda, Mechelle's mother has since died and she described her death as another trauma following their separation at birth. She said she is "determined" to get justice for anyone who has been affected, particularly those living within Fermanagh and Omagh. "We want to try and reach out to any older generations, let them know that there's an inquiry happening and that anyone is that's been affected is entitled to their justice so that there's no more shame or stigma", she said.
Noting there is a cross-Border element to how the institutions were run, Mechelle said: “There were a lot of women who taken from the north to the south to have their babies. hey wouldn't be included on this because it's only if you had your baby [or were born] in the North. Anyone that had their baby in the South needs to contact the commission in the Republic.”
Fermanagh and Omagh District Council responded to the Executive Offices consultation on behalf of survivors living is the district. In its response, the Council expressed its disappointment at the length of time taken for an Inquiry and Redress Scheme to take place, with 34 years having passed since the last mother-and-baby home closed. The Council states that women and children impacted by these institutions, including those in very rural areas within Fermanagh and Omagh, must receive fair, generous and sincere justice promptly and effectively. It also puts forward a number of recommendations on appropriate acts of remembrance, memorialisation and acknowledgement. The Council’s response also states that an apology is needed from government and the organisations that ran those institutions. The response also calls for the government and relevant organisations to admit that pregnant women should have had the right to give birth to and care for their baby, and that the stigma and shame for these women needs to be removed and replaced with the compassion they were denied. Birth Mothers and their Children for Justice are encouraging people to contact the enquiry and other relevant bodies if they have been affected by institutions such as mother-and-baby homes, Magdalene Laundries and Workhouses.
You can contact the Birth Mothers and their Children for justice via birthmothersforjustice.n.i@hotmail.com or 07513874371.
