Historical Institutional Abuse: survivors set for public apology at Stormont
Last updated 11th Mar 2022
Survivors of historical institutional abuse in Northern Ireland will finally receive a public apology today (Friday).
Victims will gather at Stormont to hear the apology at first hand.
Over the last couple of days, Downtown Radio & Cool FM Reporters have been catching up with survivors to hear what today's apology will mean to them (see videos below).
Due to the absence of an Executive, the apology will be delivered in the Assembly chamber by Ministers, representing each of the five main parties.
Before that there will be a minute's silence.
Michelle McIlveen, Conor Murphy, Nichola Mallon, Robin Swann and Naomi Long will make the apology after Paul Givan resigned earlier this year, which also removed Michelle O'Neill from the joint office.
Representatives from six religious organisations, which ran the institutions, will also offer an apology.
They will speak for religious orders De La Salle, Sisters of Nazareth, Sisters of St Louis and the Good Shepherd Sisters - as well as Barnardo's and the Irish Church Missions.
The public apology was recommended in the final report of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry (HIAI), which was published more than five years ago.
Inquiry chair Sir Anthony Hart outlined a series of recommendations after he revealed shocking levels of sexual, physical and emotional abuse in the period 1922 to 1995.
The recommendations included that those abused in state, church and charity run homes should be offered compensation as well as an official apology from government and the organisations which ran the residential facilities where it happened - and a memorial.