Care home resident's family mount protest

Relatives of Annie McCourt picketed the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) in Belfast a week after a damning report into standards at the Dunmurry Manor home.

The investigation by the Commissioner for Older People in Northern Ireland listed a litany of failings in the care provided in the home.

Commissioner Eddie Lynch also expressed concern that during the period focused on by his investigation, RQIA inspectors had been reporting no major issues at Dunmurry.

In the wake of the report’s publication last week the RQIA challenged a number of its findings, insisting there was no evidence of institutional abuse at the facility.

Mrs McCourt’s relatives have been at the forefront of a campaign by families alleging mistreatment of residents at the home. Their complaints sparked Mr Lynch’s probe.

The 89-year-old great grandmother from west Belfast, who suffered from dementia, was a resident at the home for six months in 2016. She died later that year.

Her family is examining the possibility of pursing corporate manslaughter charges in the wake of Mr Lynch’s findings.

At Friday’s protest, Mrs McCourt’s granddaughter Julieann McNally urged the RQIA to “hold their hands up” over its “failures”.

“The message we are trying to get across today is we want them to take responsibility,” she said. “We want them to hold their hands up and say we accept our part in the failures in this report,” she added. “Enough is enough as of today.

“It’s got to stop.”