Debate contribution: Inquiry (Mother and Baby Institutions, Magdalene Laundries and Workhouses) and Redress Scheme Bill: Consideration Stage

Debate contribution by Mr Gerry Carroll on 19 May 2026.

MLA

Mr Gerry Carroll

Party at the time

People Before Profit Alliance

Date

19 May 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

Inquiry (Mother and Baby Institutions, Magdalene Laundries and Workhouses) and Redress Scheme Bill: Consideration Stage

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5549343

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I will speak to the group 1 amendments that stand in my name, which are amendment Nos 12, 13, 14, 16 and 21. This should not need to be said in the Chamber in 2026, but it must be put on the record that the women who were impacted on by the institutions that we are discussing today were not criminals or shameful. They were human beings — mothers, daughters and sisters — who were imprisoned by a system in which Church and state colluded to strip them of their dignity and, in many cases, of their children. I extend my solidarity to those women, including those who are present in the Gallery and those who are watching the debate. I thank the Members who have contributed to the debate so far and those who have indicated their support for my amendments. I commend Committee members for their work. I commend the Member for Fermanagh and South Tyrone for mentioning her mother. I imagine that that was not easy to do, but fair play to her. I extend my solidarity to her as well. Before I address the legislation, I want to speak about the experience of Mr Robert O'Connor, who emailed me, Sinéad and other MLAs. As has been said, he mentioned that his mother was in the Good Shepherd Magdalene laundry in Derry. Decades ago, when Robert asked about his mother, he was told that she had passed away. Years later, he was contacted and asked to attend her funeral, only to find out that she had been buried under the wrong name. After years of campaigning, Robert finally succeeded in having her name corrected on the stone that memorialised women there. As Sinéad said, he sent us photographs of his mother before and after she was put into the laundry. His message to us was simple:

"Please do not forget about these women when you vote on anything regarding the proposed inquiry".

That is very pertinent today. The legislation is welcome and long overdue. The women and families who have campaigned for decades deserve to see it on the statute book. However, while it is welcome, that does not mean that it is perfect or sufficient. I have to say clearly that the fact that an arbitrary cut-off date for a posthumous claim remains in the Bill is completely unacceptable. An explanation is owed, not to me or the Committee necessarily, but to victims and survivors. Like other Members, I have been contacted by scores of constituents overnight who are devastated that an amendment on that was not selected for today's debate. I am sure that it is the same for others in the House. Equally, workhouses are not included in schedule 2 to the Bill, meaning that those who were impacted by workhouses remain ineligible for the redress payment, despite workhouses being in the title of the Bill. I will address those issues later in the debate. I will now turn to the amendments in this group.

501 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:42 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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