PSNI continues to urge victims of alleged abuse in mother and baby institutions to come forward

The investigation has also been widened to Canada where inquiries suggest more potential victims and witnesses could now be living.

The investigation into allegations of “physical and sexual abuse” at the institutions was launched by the PSNI in October 2021.

“These institutions housed many, including pregnant women and girls from 1922 to 1990 in Northern Ireland, who often felt coerced into giving up their child,” said the PSNI.

“Thousands of people are said to have entered these institutions over a 68-year period, and a wide range of alleged criminality that potentially happened there is now being investigated.”

Since the investigation was launched, officers in the PSNI’s dedicated investigation team have received 57 reports, including from mothers who have never met their children.

Allegations of inconsistencies with birth records have also been received from those who were adopted from Northern Irish institutions and now live in Canada.

Detective Superintendent Gary Reid, who is leading this investigation, said: “The last known institution closed down in 1990. This is not a lifetime ago, and we believe there are people out there who are still suffering in silence.

“It’s important that we are engaging with our local communities about this investigation as there were so many across Northern Ireland that have been affected in some way by these institutions.

“We want to reassure anyone impacted in any way that this investigation is still very much live and ongoing and that we want to hear from them. If you were the victim of abuse or other forms of criminality in any of these institutions, or know somebody who was, or if you witnessed anything suspicious, please contact us.

“We care about what you have to say, will listen and support you, and will act to keep you and others safe.”

As part of the PSNI’s ongoing efforts to encourage victims and witnesses of any alleged criminality to come forward, local neighbourhood policing teams will be out on the streets across Northern Ireland speaking to organisations and members of the public about the investigation.

A woman who gave birth at the Marianvale Institution, Adele Johnston, is among those encouraging more victims to come forward and speak to the dedicated PSNI investigation team.

“You will be treated with complete sensitivity and respect as they wish to build a complete picture of what happened in these institutions. The only way to right the injustices of the past is to make your voices heard,” said Ms Johnston, who is a member of the support group ‘Birth Mothers for Justice NI’.

The PSNI said inquires to date suggest there could be more victims and witnesses who have moved or been adopted to countries overseas such as Canada” and who are “suffering in silence as a result of experiencing or witnessing potential criminality”.

It is appealing to anyone currently residing in Canada, who was a mother or adopted from one of these institutions in Northern Ireland, or anyone who visited an institution or worked there, to come forward and make a report.

Det Supt Reid said: “As a Police Service, we are aware of the profound impact on the lives of those who lived or worked in mother and baby institutions, Magdalene Laundries and work houses, and the concerns of the wider public on how they were operated.

“We know there are people currently residing in Canada that have yet to come forward who were adopted from an institution in Northern Ireland or moved to Canada following a traumatic experience. We want to hear from them.”

The PSNI said a dedicated reporting system is in place to make it easier for people who suffered to come forward.

“All those who do report will be spoken to by a specialist detective and will be offered the opportunity to have their account recorded so that a criminal investigation can take place,” it added. “They will also be signposted to further help and support available.”

Institutions such as mother and baby homes and the Magdalene Laundries were tasked by the State to deal with ‘fallen’ women, such as those who had become pregnant out of wedlock. Their children were either boarded out to foster parents, institutionalised, or adopted by families of the same faith, some as far away as America, and – as survivors, advocates and researchers have long maintained – often under “questionable circumstances”, says Clara Fischer, a researcher and lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast.

Research published last year by Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University found that  around 10,500 women were admitted to mother and baby institutions and around 3,000 women were admitted to Magdalene Laundries between 1922 and 1990. The research examined eight mother and baby homes, a number of former workhouses and four Magdalene Laundries.

The last mother and baby institution closed in 1990; the last Magdalene Laundry in 1984.