State apology is hard to accept without access to records, say mother and baby home survivors

Carmel Larkin, a survivor of Tuam mother and baby home, at her home in Tuam listening to Micheál Martin's apology to the victims of the homes. Picture: Ray Ryan

Mother and baby home survivors say yesterday's State apology is hard to accept without access to their personal records.
On the day of the State apology to the women and children who were institutionalised and abused in the homes, the Government was accused of "failing to listen" to survivors, who in many cases still cannot access their original birth certificates.

It also emerged yesterday that many survivors have not seen the full report because printed copies were not distributed by the Government and many were not able to access the online version due to age or other factors.

Clodagh Malone from the Coalition of Mother and Baby Home Survivors called on the Government to open the records.

 "Let us know who we are. Let us know where we came from. Our lineage, our heritage and our medical history. This cannot be a secret anymore," she said.

Kathleen Tuite, who was in Castlepollard Home said: “All this talk of apology is no good, it’s no good to me, I’m fine, it’s my mother, who didn’t get to hear any of this and I never got to hear her story. She got no opinion. It means nothing to me. Every name should be written and talked about. It took 55 years to get my name. There’s people out there who don’t know their grandmothers or grandparents. I don’t believe any apology now is coming from the heart.”

The final report of the Mother and Baby Home Commission of Investigation recommended that adopted people should have a right to their birth certificates and associated birth information.

The report stated that a constitutional referendum would be needed to change the law and allow adoptees to find their families.

However, Minister for Children Roderic O'Gorman has committed to introducing "essential" legislation that would allow individuals to access adoption information based on GDPR legislation, without the need for a referendum. Scrutiny on the new laws is not scheduled to begin until the end of the year.

Labour senator Ivana Bacik hit out at delays in the legislation and claimed it shows the Government's "failure to listen" to the women.

'Each of you is blameless, each of you did nothing wrong and has nothing to be ashamed of. Each of you deserved so much better.' So said Taoiseach during his apology from the Dáil.

The Taoiseach Micheál Martin apologised on behalf of the State on Wednesday, "for the shame and stigma which they were subjected to and which, for some, remains a burden to this day.

"I want to emphasise that each of you were in an institution because of the wrongs of others," he said.

"Each of you is blameless, each of you did nothing wrong and has nothing to be ashamed of. Each of you deserved so much better.
"The Irish State, as the main funding authority for the majority of these institutions, had the ultimate ability to exert control over these institutions, in addition to its duty of care to protect citizens with a robust regulatory and inspection regime.
"This authority was not exerted and the State’s duty of care was not upheld.
"The State failed you, the mothers and children in these homes."
"Throughout this report, former residents talk of a feeling of shame for the situation they found themselves in.
"The shame was not theirs — it was ours.
"It remains our shame."

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said that Ireland had a "stolen generation" in these homes who lived "a conspiracy of shame and silence and cruelty".

"As leader of my party which was in government for some of this period, as a member of the Government which established this commission, as a citizen, and as a man, I offer my apology," he said.
In their statements, the opposition took aim at parts of the commission report and the Taoiseach himself, telling Mr Martin, "the buck stops with the State" rather than pinning blame to the society of the time.

"The truth is that these crimes were perpetrated by a reactionary Catholic Church, and a confessional State. Those in power outsourced their responsibility to the religious orders and this was done by the powerful to those who were vulnerable," Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said.
"To say we did this to ourselves is deeply insulting to victims and survivors, and it is frankly a cop-out," she said. 

Social Democrat TD Jennifer Whitmore said the comments failed to fully acknowledge that "the fundamental responsibility of protection of its citizens lies with the State".
"A State and Church which operated hand in glove to implement a State policy of shame, blame, and misogyny, that facilitated and oversaw the horrific treatment of women and children in those homes."

The Government say they will also design a scheme of "restorative recognition" for former residents, and an interdepartmental group will report back to Government on this "as soon as possible".

Government says commitments will be advanced in a "survivor-centred manner", with ongoing communication and engagement as plans are developed and implemented.