Learning from past mistakes and looking to the future with hope

On the second day of the ‘Irish Examiner’ series looking at the placement of Irish children overseas, Noel Baker visits Ballydowd, the country’s top special care centre, and Kibble in Scotland. Supported by the Mary Raftery Fund.

BALLYDOWD

“WHO ARE YOU?” asks the boy. It’s a fair question. I’ve just strolled into a classroom in Ballydowd secure care centre in west Dublin. Neither the boy, nor the girl beside him, seem put out, just interested. “If you want a real story, come here at night,” the girl says. “See what it’s like to be locked up at night. See, you reporters are not getting told half the stuff.”