Debate contribution: Muckamore Abbey Hospital Inquiry Final Report
Debate contribution by Mr Gerry Kelly on .
- MLA
- Mr Gerry Kelly
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 22 June 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Ministerial Statement
- Heading
- Muckamore Abbey Hospital Inquiry Final Report
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5637823
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I thank the Minister for his statement. Accountability and implementation have been mentioned a number of times. The test in all of this will be the speed of implementation. I declare an interest, in that my sister Peggy, who was next in the family to me, spent time in Muckamore many years ago. I mention that because, even then, before there was any ability to gather evidence, there was the misuse of vulnerable people. The secrecy and privacy of institutions that deal with vulnerable people is the worst thing that we need to look at. Like others, I have worked with a number of families. One particular family is that of Matthew McPeake. Linda Dillon mentioned Geraldine O'Hagan, who was a family liaison social worker who supported and advocated for the McPeake family. I spent some considerable time with Geraldine, a totally dedicated and courageous woman who, as Linda pointed out, died of cancer. It is worth saying that I went to see her in the hospital to ask her —.
I will finish in one second. When I asked her how she was doing, she said that she wanted me to go and help others. That is what she spent our time together talking about. We are talking not just about closing Muckamore but about resettling people. I was there during the resettlement period, and there were problems after resettlement as well.
My question is this: will the Minister make sure that, going forward, family liaison staff are supported as crucial members of the teams that take care of our most vulnerable people? They are the people who should have been listened to, but they were not.
278 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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