The Stormont administration has been involved in so many different disappointments and errors of judgment that the latest issue over compensation for victims of the scandal involving mother and baby homes has caused huge upset but little real surprise.
However, it still needs to be regarded as a matter of the utmost seriousness, with major consequences for struggling and entirely innocent individuals, which needs to receive the urgent attention of all our political leaders.
Last week, the Stormont Speaker, Edwin Poots of the DUP, used his sweeping powers to unilaterally block any consideration of an amendment to the existing redress and inquiry bill.
Campaigners described it as a devastating blow, and what made it even worse was that Mr Poots has so far declined to provide any proper explanation of his decision and has instead taken a haughty approach to entirely legitimate expressions of deep concern.
When the SDLP MLA Sinéad McLaughlin attempted to seek clarification in the Assembly, Mr Poots said: “Those decisions are taken with the best advice. You know nothing about what goes on in the background, and it is not in order for you to challenge that.”
The new legislation is due to establish an inquiry into mother and baby homes, the notorious Magdalene Laundries and workhouses as well as an associated redress scheme.
It is estimated that over 10,000 pregnant women and girls passed through the institutions which were largely run by religious orders for seven decades up until the 1990s, with a third of those admitted were under the age of 19, and the youngest just 12.
The proposed laws mean that only families of victims who died after 29 September, 2011, are eligible for redress payments, and an amendment seeking to remove the date was not selected for debate during the bill’s latest stage in the Assembly.
Those centrally involved have spoken of their deep sense of hurt, and said that a vital opportunity for official acknowledgment of their suffering may have been permanently lost.
Solicitor Claire McKeegan, who represents many of the survivors and victims, was fully entitled to tell this newspaper that the Speaker’s ruling raised serious questions about “consistency, transparency and confidence in Assembly procedures”.
She indicated that legal action was under consideration over the decision, which was discussed by the Executive Office committee last week.
Relatives of those directly affected have asked Mr Poots to fully set out the reasons behind his intervention, and it is essential that early progress is made in this regard.
It cannot be acceptable that, as one relative has said, victims who died before September, 2011, were failed in life and are now being failed in death.
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