Northern Ireland will launch a formal inquiry into "mother and baby homes" where pregnant, unmarried women were isolated from society to give birth, First Minister Arlene Foster said Tuesday. The move comes two weeks after Ireland issued a state apology for mistreatment of so-called "fallen women" and their children in similar church and state-run homes operating in the Republic as recently as 1998. A formal inquiry there found 9,000 children died over 76 years while women were burdened with a lifetime of shame and stigma by a society in the grip of a fierce Roman Catholic dogma. Foster announced the Northern Ireland inquiry after research commissioned by the devolved government in Belfast indicated 10,500 women passed through eight such homes in the British province between 1922 and 1990. "Many unanswered questions remain and we want to work with victims and survivors to ensure they are supported in the right way," said Foster in a statement. "Today we give a commitment to survivors, that you will be silenced no more." Women in such institutions in Northern Ireland also faced harsh stigma over pregnancies out of wedlock and some had "cold and castigating birth experiences", according to the executive's summary of the research. "Questions about adoption and infant mortality rates remain unanswered and will require further examination," the government added in a statement. jts/phz/bp