An exhibition featuring photographic portraits of 16 mothers bereaved during the Troubles opens at the Roddy McCorley Heritage Centre in west Belfast this weekend.

The project, titled ‘It’s Different for Mothers: An Irreparable Loss’, will be officially welcomed by Lord Mayor Róis-Máire Donnelly at 4pm on Saturday. It was first launched to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

The portraits capture women from all backgrounds who lost a child in violent conflict-related circumstances between 1968 and 2010. The exhibition has been organised by the victims’ group Relatives for Justice and forms part of the Féile an Phobail and Fleadh programme.

A spokesperson for Relatives for Justice said the loss of a child through conflict is a profound and unique bereavement for mothers. The group highlighted that 91 per cent of those killed during the conflict were men, meaning women’s experiences of loss were different and often overlooked.

The spokesperson added that victims and survivors have sometimes been portrayed as obstacles to the peace process. This, the group said, led to legacy legislation that denies victims access to judicial remedies, a move that has been widely condemned internationally and across political and human rights bodies.

Relatives for Justice stated that the exhibition presents the mothers as contributors to peace and as a reminder of why society must never return to conflict. The group said dealing with the past is an essential act of care and urged visitors to bear witness and help build a shared future based on human rights and dignity.