in the corner of an unremarkable children s playground in the irish town of choom county go away a small patch of land has been walled off. a patch of land with an awful secret. very. tiny baby. 6 years ago local historian catherine corless realized that under the grass in and around an old septic tank like the bodies of hundreds of babies and infants. that sewage tank was in the grounds of a mother and baby home run by catholic nuns known as the sisters the women and girls who d fallen pregnant outside of marriage. the survivors and families of those who died were horrified the story came out about a town trying to find a septic tank and i knew me too and i think that was my mother s baby we wanted her . from they have d.n.a. tests us. under pressure from widespread international concern in 2015 the irish government set up an official commission of investigation into islands mother and baby. is the commission building if ever there so i. don t look much really for the surviv
and baby home in ireland in 2017. a year later, hardtalk‘s sarah montague spoke to paul redmond, who has collected evidence of high death rates at homes for illegitimate children across ireland. paul was born in one of those homes and felt a duty to expose what went on. welcome to hardtalk, i m sarah montague. it was front page news around the world when a mass grave was discovered at a mother and baby home in ireland. the remains of almost 800 babies were found. but research by paul redmond, my guest today, showed that was only the tip of the iceberg. he collected evidence of high death rates at homes for illegitimate children across ireland, and he also claimed the catholic nuns who ran them were trading in adoptions, being paid to send children to the united states for adoption, often against the mother s wishes, and sometimes without her knowledge. he was born in one of those homes and adopted before he was a month old. now, he feels he has a duty to expose what went on
to the campaign for a so called people s vote, although the first minister said the real solution for scotland was independence. our scotland editor, sarah smith, reports. calls for a second referendum on the terms of brexit were accompanied through central london today by hundreds of dogs, their owners delighted to hear the snp now support their cause. while labour has not ruled out supporting a so called people s vote, theresa may has said it will not happen. nicola sturgeon told the andrew marr show that, faced with a choice between a cobbled together brexit deal or no deal at all, mps should look at an alternative. there s no doubt the calls for a second referendum would grow in those circumstances, and i ve said before we would not stand in the way of a second referendum, a so called people s vote. i think the snp mps would undoubtedly vote for that proposition. they would that s a very important moment. the snp are the largest uk party to party to commit to a second r
i m sarah montague. it was front page news around the world when a mass grave was discovered at a mother and baby home in ireland. the remains of almost 800 babies were found. but research by paul redmond, my guest today, showed that was only the tip of the iceberg. he collected evidence of higher death rates at homes for illegitimate children across ireland, and he also claimed catholic nuns who ran them were trading in adoptions, being paid to send children to the united states for adoption, often against the mother s wishes, and sometimes without her knowledge. he was born in one of those homes and adopted before he was a month old. now he feels he has a duty to expose what went on. paul redmond, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. you refer to a life changing moment in your book the adoption machine when you went back to the home in which you were born, in 2011, with a group of other people who had been adopted, and you visited something that is called the angels plot. can y