Councils got department advice on report apologies

COUNTY councils around the country were given advice from the Department of Children about how to handle an apology to survivors of mother and baby homes.

They were told that while it might not be necessary to issue an individual apology, there could be a ‘political or social imperative to do so locally’.

The advice came in a message from the County and City Management Association [CCMA] which said consultation had taken place between the departments of Housing and of Children.

The Department of Children said local authorities could take their lead from the apology made by the Taoiseach. A letter to councils from the CCMA said: ‘They [the department] have also suggested that local authorities might wish to consider a commitment to supporting local measures as part of the proposed suite of follow-up actions, for example, in regard to local memorialisation and access to their archives or records.’

Internal records from one council detail how they prepared to deal with the fallout from the report.

Galway County Council – in whose area the notorious Tuam home was located – was the subject of extensive criticism for apparent delays in issuing its apology.

The council issued a statement the day after the Mother and Baby Homes report was published, saying it would ‘take some time to read and fully absorb the findings’. But the delay was criticised in some correspondence with one email stating: ‘Seeing that the Taoiseach, bishops and religious orders have apologised for the many wrongs committed – is it not odd that Galway County Council, who owned the building, doesn’t see fit to apologise?’

Council management were also criticised after an agenda for a meeting was published with the Mother and Baby homes report eighth on the list.

In an email to senior management, Fianna Fáil councillor Shelly Herterich Quinn said: ‘It is appalling that we should not be the first to apologise given the seriousness of the findings.’

She said the council had become a ‘laughing stock’ and that the delay in apologising was ‘disgraceful’.