Government must act ... or the epitaph ‘Deny Till They Die’ will be written on the tombstone of Irish justice
Philomena Lee and her daughter Jane Libberton at the graveside at Seán Ross Abbey, Roscrea, at a private memorial for her son Anthony Lee (Michael Hess) who was lost to her by forced adoption in the mid 1950s.
The State has acknowledged in the High Court that the rights of survivors were breached when they were not given a draft of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission's final report prior to its publication.
In a victory for Philomena Lee and Mary Harney, who were chosen as test cases to address a core claim in other similar actions, the State acknowledged that the women’s rights were breached when they were not given a draft of the final report prior to its publication.
The court declared that eight survivors including Philomena Lee, Mary Harney, Mari Steed, Madeleine Bridget Marvier, Mary Isobelle Mullaney, and others not identified publicly, were denied fair procedures by the State’s Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation which operated between 2015 and 2021.
"The declaration given demonstrates that the Commission of Investigation failed in its statutory duty to witnesses and that the government is not willing to stand over its work."
She called on the Government to make the administrative files and documents of the commission available for scrutiny, and said the proposed redress scheme must take into account the breaches of our constitutional and human rights.
"Almost 25 years has passed since the last mother and baby home closed its doors in Ireland — it is time for the Government to grant those still alive their chance to find healing and peace in the information that has always been rightfully theirs; if not, the epitaph ‘Deny Till They Die’ will be written on the tombstone of Irish justice," she said.
Michael Lynn, senior counsel for the women, told the court that the State was also agreeing to pay the women’s legal fees.
Mr Justice Garrett Simons welcomed the fact an agreement had been reached.
He noted that the sensitive case had raised “very important and very significant issues”.
The judge had requested an additional short hearing for further submissions after he identified a “number of issues” while preparing his judgement.
However, when the case returned before him yesterday, the court heard that the State parties were conceding the case and consenting to a declaration that it had acted in breach of statutory duty by failing to provide the applicant, who is identifiable in the final report, with a copy of the draft under section 34 of the Commission of Investigation Act.
Both women had claimed in their actions that were readily identifiable within the final report, despite not being named, and they submitted this triggered a requirement under section 34 for them to be provided with a draft copy of the report so they could make submissions on it, including the treatment of their evidence.
As the commission has been dissolved, the challenges were brought against the Minister for Children, Roderic O'Gorman, who had initially denied their claims.
The High Court declaration will now appear alongside the commission’s final report on the Government website and it will be deposited for permanent preservation in the Oireachtas Library alongside the commission’s report.
The Government will also list online and in the Oireachtas Library all paragraphs in the commission’s report which the survivors' High Court actions claimed did not accurately reflect their testimony.
Chief Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Sinéad Gibney said the case should never have needed to be taken.
“We must see a change not only to the political rhetoric but a systemic change in the State’s attitude and responsibility towards anyone who is a victim or survivor of State wrongdoing."
She paid credit to the "strength and resilience" of the women who fought "to see their accounts accurately told, and to vindicate their right to truth and dignity".
"While the Minister acknowledges that specific paragraphs are not accepted by a number of survivors, he is also aware that some of those paragraphs may reflect the experiences and evidence of other survivors."
The minister is to set up a "new mechanism" for any survivor of mother and baby and county home institutions who may wish to come forward voluntarily with a view to having their personal account formally recognised as part of the official record of the history and lived experience of these institutions.
"This is intended to address the concerns and disappointment expressed by some survivors regarding how the personal accounts they gave to the commission’s confidential committee were treated.
"This process will feed into Government’s broader work in the area of memorialisation, and it is hoped that the outcome will form the heart of a National Memorial and Records Centre," the statement on behalf of the minister said.
"The Government knew that the commission was refusing to provide survivors or adopted people with any personal data, or even a transcript of their own evidence," she said.
"Those personally affected had no way of accessing or commenting on any of the evidence being gathered by the commission, and the commission refused to allow any survivor a public hearing despite their express requests.
"In fact, the commission refused to advertise or allow all survivors to meet its investigation committee; it directed survivors generally to its confidential committee and then declined to treat the testimony given to the confidential committee as having evidentiary value for the purpose of the report’s conclusions."
The Clann Project is calling on the Government to revise the terms of a recently announced redress scheme which it says was based on the "flawed" commission report.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
