A WOMAN who suffered abuse at the hands of Catholic nuns while in care has urged other victims to come forward.
Deirdre Harper, 57, of Birkby, has campaigned for many years for an inquiry into claims of systematic abuse in children’s homes in Northern Ireland.
An independent inquiry is now underway and Mrs Harper is encouraging others to tell their stories.
“It’s a terrible subject for people to speak about, difficult for the person concerned and for their families as well, but it is important to tell people what they have gone through,” she said.
“This inquiry allows people to report what happened confidentially and there is no need to give evidence if they don’t want to.”
The Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry is looking into claims of mental, physical and sexual abuse in children’s homes between 1945 and 1995.
Some of the worst alleged abuse took place at the now demolished Nazareth House in Belfast where Deirdre lived for eight years in the 1960s.
The inquiry is in two parts, the first being the Acknowledgement Forum where a panel of four listen to stories from abuse victims.
The forum’s website officially opened on October 1.
Once that part is complete a full investigation will get underway.
Deirdre, whose maiden name was O’Donoghue, told how she lived in fear at the home.
During one attack she thought she was going to drown as a nun held her head repeatedly under water, her rosary beads banging on the side of the bath.
She was being punished for taking a bath at the wrong time – to avoid one in the Jeyes fluid used to clean the water.
She was also beaten with a leather strap, dragged upstairs by her hair and had her face pushed into urine-soaked sheets after she wet the bed.
Deirdre, who has two sons and four grandchildren, was one of hundreds of disadvantaged children taken into the care of the religious order, the Sisters of Nazareth, and placed into Nazareth House in south Belfast.
A similar inquiry was held in the Republic of Ireland and Deirdre petitioned the Stormont government to hold one in Northern Ireland.
“I hope the inquiry can bring closure and it is an official acknowledgement that the abuse happened,” she said. Money is not the answer but we need some kind of redress. Abuse is abuse.”
Deirdre, who was only able to speak about the abuse for the first time in her 40s, added: “Some people may say it happened a long time ago and so what?
“But as kids we accepted it as the norm and no-one thought they would be believed. “This inquiry is the chance for people to tell their story and be believed.”
Deirdre said many youngsters who were in care in Ireland fled to England to escape their memories. She believes the Northern Ireland government is not doing enough to raise awareness of the inquiry outside their own country.
For details about the inquiry go to:
