Survivors Reflect on Past and New Legislation
Caroline Hearn, Colette Breen, and Colette Cassidy are members of the group Birth Mothers and Their Children For Justice.
"We are not victims anymore – we are survivors."
This is how Caroline Hearn characterizes the journey that she and fellow campaigners have undertaken.
The Northern Ireland Assembly has recently passed legislation establishing a public inquiry and a financial redress scheme concerning mother-and-baby institutions.
These institutions, which operated in secrecy for approximately seventy years, primarily cared for unmarried women and girls, along with their children, and were mainly managed by religious orders.
Hearn was among the survivors who observed the final debate on the legislation at Stormont.
She shared that her experience as a teenager left her with "a lot of deep scars."
At age 15, in 1971, she was taken to Thorndale House, an institution run by the Salvation Army in north Belfast.
"You worked from seven o'clock in the morning to seven at night, even though you were pregnant," Hearn said.
"You were treated like the lowest of the low.
There was no counselling, there was no talking about how you were feeling."
She recalled being sent to work in a factory six weeks after giving birth, during the height of the Troubles.
"I was almost killed in a bomb. It's on my records that they called me lazy, that I didn't want to work because I didn't want to go back to that place of work," she said.
"When you came home from work, you had to take part in making teddy bears or knitting of crafts which would be sold.
You handed over your money as well – you didn't have much left for you and your child.
You were frightened, you were scared – it was a terrifying time."
Hearn is part of the group Birth Mothers and Their Children For Justice.
"We can hold our heads up in pride. I spent 54 years with my head down in shame – I have no intention of doing that again."
Colette Breen was 16 when she became pregnant and was taken to the Marianville Mother and Baby Home.
"I ran away from home, and the social worker brought me to Marianville in Belfast," Breen said.
Marianville was an institution located in the south of Belfast, operated by the Good Shepherd Sisters.
"You were up at seven o'clock for mass and breakfast, and then you had to do work.
It was like a prison, you had to follow the rules. I tried to break out, and the police brought me back," Breen recalled.
"I was punished – I couldn't read my letters, as the nuns had to read them first."
She said she was taken alone by taxi to a maternity unit to give birth.
"The whole thing was a secret, and it was very lonely.
I never told anybody about it until about seven years ago."
Breen, now 72, reported that she has been treated for mental health issues since age 21 due to her experiences.
Colette Cassidy's birth mother was also in Marianville.
Cassidy discovered she was adopted while in primary school when another girl informed her in class.
"Even though I had a very good upbringing, there's always been a bit missing. I've never felt I fitted in anywhere," she said.
She located her birth mother last year with assistance from the group, after searching since 1993.
"Colette (Breen) went with me to her grave when I found out where she was buried.
It was slight closure, in a way."
Regarding the legislation's passage, Cassidy stated:
"Thank God we have some justice.
There's so much that needs to be done – so much has been covered up, and so many wrongs done by the Catholic and Protestant churches. They have to be held accountable."
Redress Scheme Details
The bill establishes a redress scheme under which any mother or child who spent time in an institution is entitled to a standard payment of £12,000.
Additionally, £2,000 will be paid to family members of mothers and children who have died since 28 April 1953.
The devolved government estimates approximately 10,000 applications will be received, with total payments amounting to £90 million.
The public inquiry is anticipated to last about three years and cost approximately £14 million.
The inquiry will further examine issues raised in a forthcoming report by the Truth Recovery Independent Panel, which was commissioned to collect evidence in a non-confrontational manner.
Work to design the investigatory process began following research conducted by university academics in 2021.
This research found that more than ten thousand women and girls spent time in these institutions, with some pregnancies resulting from sexual crime.
Official Statements
First Minister Michelle O'Neill described the institutions as "built on the foundations of systemic misogyny."
"Within their walls, women and girls were stripped of dignity, silenced and shamed.
This legislation is another step towards putting that right through truth, acknowledgement and redress."
Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said:
"While legislation alone cannot undo the suffering endured across all parts of our society, we hope this marks the beginning of a new phase."
The Salvation Army stated:
"We ran mother and baby homes with the intention of caring for vulnerable women and children but testimonies like these show that there were people in our care whom we let down and for that we are profoundly sorry.
We are deeply saddened to hear of the traumatic experiences that some people endured in the care of The Salvation Army many decades ago; the hurt of which they still carry.
We welcome the various processes and inquiries underway to understand more about how women and their children were treated in Mother and Baby Homes.
It is right that we should be transparent about the times in our past when we failed to provide the support and care that people needed and deserved."
The Good Shepherd Sisters have previously expressed their intention to offer "fullest cooperation" to the investigation and expressed regret that they "could not and did not always meet the multi-faceted needs of these women."
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