In January, the report of an enquiry in the history of Ireland’s mother and baby homes was published. It intended to draw a line under last century’s notorious abuses in government and church-run institutions. Instead it has been condemned as a secretive and anti-human rights whitewash that is failing to provide accountability for the victims and which defies good practice in transitional justice.
The scandal of the “banished babies” in Ireland
30 April 2021 By Asymmetrical Haircuts, for JusticeInfo.net
Over several decades and into the 1970’s, thousands of unmarried women were forced into mother and baby homes run by the church or the state in Ireland. 50,000 babies were taken away from their mothers. Women from 12-years old and into their forties were “paying for their sins”. For six years, a government commission has investigated the matter. A 3,000-page report came out last January. It was a secret inquiry. It concluded that there was no abuse. Individual victims are still stripped of their identities and still have no access to their birth records. They enjoy no compensation. Our partners from Asymmetrical Haircut, Janet Anderson and Stephanie van den Berg, talked to Mary Harney, a victim and now a tutor at the Human Rights Law clinic at the National University in Galway, and Maeve O’Rourke, a lecturer in Human Rights Law at Galway. “We have a mess on o
The Garda Commissioner has said there are allegations within the report of the Mother and Baby Home Commission that suggest there was serious criminality engaged in.
Drew Harris told a meeting of the Policing Authority that allegations such as rape, incest and reports of children as young as 12 being pregnant are issues that could be pursued by gardaí that could have criminal justice outcomes.
Gardaí today appealed to anyone who was the victim of a criminal act in a mother-and-baby home to contact them.
However, they have warned that there will be limitations to the actions that can be taken in some cases due to the passage of time.
How did these children die? : Call for inquests into deaths at mother and baby homes
Ireland must meet its domestic and international human rights obligations, the Oireachtas Children’s Committee has heard. By Órla Ryan Wednesday 14 Apr 2021, 1:02 PM 1 hour ago 2,644 Views 15 Comments
List of the names of dead children at the grotto at the site of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home (file photo from January 2021).
Image: Niall Carson/PA Wire/PA Images
List of the names of dead children at the grotto at the site of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home (file photo from January 2021).
Image: Niall Carson/PA Wire/PA Images
Calls to have coroners investigate mass graves at mother and baby homes Cate McCurry and Michelle Devane, PA 14 April, 2021 12:05
Coroners in the Republic of Ireland should be instructed to investigate the mass graves at mother and baby homes, survivor groups and experts have said.
Legal expert Phil Scraton said that while costs will be unprecedented, a price cannot be put on truth and accountability.
The Oireachtas Children’s Committee has heard from a range of experts and campaigners as it scrutinised the Industrial Burials Bill.
The proposed legislation will enable an agency to be set up to oversee exhumations of remains at former mother and baby home institutions.