the legal right to live in britain. 0ur ireland correspondent chris page reports. she came on the ship or boat, as it was. and there were other mothers on there. i was wrapped in a blue blanket. she must have loved me so much. maria cahill is recounting a journey which happened in 195a. she d been born in london, a british citizen. her mother, philomena, was irish and wasn t married. this was their destination an institution for unmarried women and girls in castlepollard in county westmeath. i should never have been in ireland that s my take on that because i was born in london. the mother and baby homes, as they were known, were seen as places of punishment. maria was eventually adopted. later, mother and daughter looked for each other. after philomena died,
several organisations in the uk who researchers have linked to repatriations didn t respond to a request for comments. maria has spent decades investigating the mystery of her own early life. my advice to women who have gone through this and are going through it is to keep strong. there s always a paper trail. it might have taken me a0 years, but, eventually, the bits and pieces were coming together. she hopes a bigger picture will become clear the full truth about the lonely westward journeys across the irish sea. chris page, bbc news. now, thousands of us will be looking to get away this summer, but this year a foreign break is likely to cost significantly more. new figures show that prices for package holidays to many popular destinations have risen steeply over the last year. 0ur cost of living correspondent
the full truth about the lonely westward journeys across the irish sea. chris page, bbc news. well, i m joined now by maria s daughter fiona cahill, who we heard from briefly in that piece. thanks so much for talking to us. you said in that piece we just watch that you don t want this to be swept under the carpet, you think that your mother s experience, what she went through, should be heard. just tell us if you can, reflect on your mother s experience. what did she go through? she mother s experience. what did she go throu~h? ,, , ., , ., ., through? she suffered a deep trauma, reall , through? she suffered a deep trauma, really. through through? she suffered a deep trauma, really. through it through? she suffered a deep trauma, really, through it her through? she suffered a deep trauma, really, through it her whole through? she suffered a deep trauma, really, through it her whole life. - really, through it her whole life. she has felt this yearning for her mum. heradoption
they could be emerging belarus any moment, and when they could turn against us. survivors are calling for an official apology for what they say was the forced repatriation of unmarried mothers from britain to ireland during the last century. thousands of irish women and girls were sent back despite having the legal right to live in britain. and there s increasing evidence that children were sent to ireland even though they were born in the uk to mothers who had settled there. 0ur ireland correspondent chris page reports. she came on the ship or boat, as it was. and there were other mothers on there. i was wrapped in a blue blanket. she must have loved me so much. maria cahill is recounting a journey which happened in 195a. she d been born in london,
mothers as a burden on resources. the cost was something that theyjust kept coming back to, and this was part of the reason for the repatriation scheme. it was supposed to be an optional scheme for the woman. all of the women that i spoke to, they all said they did not know that. they felt like it was completely forced, that they did not have a choice. maria s daughter says the state authorities, such as councils and church organisations, should apologise. an acknowledgement that that happened and an apology for it would be enormously welcome. but as long as it stays silenced and under the carpet, you know, it s as if all of that happened and she s gone through all of this and we ve struggled with all of this for no acknowledgement and no reason. the irish government said it recognised the deep hurt of many survivors who were repatriated and that comprehensive birth information services were now in place.