New panel to hear from victims of NI mother and baby homes and Magdalene laundries

They panel is:

* Deirdre Mahon is a qualified and experienced Social Worker/Youth and Community worker. She has been a driving force in the roll-out of trauma informed practice across Northern Ireland

* Phil Scraton is Professor Emeritus in the School of Law, Queen’s University Belfast. He has an international reputation for research into the rights of bereaved families and survivors, particularly his investigative work into the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.

* Dr Maeve O’Rourke is Lecturer in Human Rights at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland Galway, and a barrister at 33 Bedford Row, London. She has worked pro bono for more than a decade with individuals and relatives of those affected by Magdalene Laundries, Mother and Baby Institutions, forced and illegal adoptions, and related institutions and practices in the Republic of Ireland.

The Department of Health has also announced details of a dedicated phone line 0300 0200 789 and website to enable victims and survivors of the institutions to participate.

Anyone with a connection with the institutions can become involved. Information of how to take part is available on the NI Direct website.

First Minister Arlene Foster said: “The many women and children who were victims of shocking ill-treatment and abuse in Mother and Baby Homes and Magdalene Laundries have had to wait far too long for their voices to be heard.

“The appointment of this team of experts to work with victims and survivors in shaping the independent investigation is another welcome step forward in the long fight to break the silence around their suffering.”

Judith Gillespie, the independent chair of the inter-departmental working group, which had oversight of research by Queen’s University and Ulster University into the historical institutions and made recommendations to the Northern Ireland Executive based on that research, also welcomed the appointments.

She said: “This is another important step for victims and survivors of Mother and Baby and Magdalene Laundry institutions. For too long their voices have not been heard and the co-design process will be fundamental to addressing that.”