Taken from his mother and now looking to help abuse victims get justice

Call for probe into forced adoptions

A MAN who was forcibly removed from his mother as a newborn by the Catholic Church has begged for justice for the victims of abuse at former mother and baby homes.

Eunan Duffy was taken from his mum against her will minutes after his birth in 1968 in the former Marian Vale home in Newry, Co Down. He only discovered he was adopted in February 2016. Mr Duffy immediately launched a search for his birth mother, believing she had willingly given him up. Unknown to him, she had never forgotten him and had spent her life hoping he would get in touch. After six months of searching Mr Duffy finally traced her to London where they were reunited. The 49-year-old said: “There are hundreds of people out there like me and like my birth mother. “The authorities, public servants and politicians who are ignoring our calls for justice should be ashamed of themselves. “Too many people want what happened to be dumped in the history dustbin. Shame on them.” The homes, or laundries, were intended for “fallen women”, unmarried mothers and those with learning disabilities or who had been abused. Women and girls were made to do unpaid manual labour in the laundries run by Catholic nuns in Ireland between 1922 and 1996. Some of the girls who were sent to the homes were as young as 13, but most were older teenagers. After giving birth their children were put up for adoption, often against the mother’s will. Mr Duffy, from Portadown, Co Armagh, has joined demands from other birth mothers and children that a criminal investigation is launched into abuse at former mother and baby homes across the region. He also claimed the group’s calls at Stormont for an inquiry into the abuse has fallen on deaf ears and accused representatives of “political inertia”. Mr Duffy added the forced adoptions should be treated by police as human trafficking. He said: “We know that people in the North were moved to the South, or to England. It was the human trafficking of babies.” As well as a criminal investigation, the campaign group Birth Mothers and Their Children for Justice NI have called for a dedicated inquiry into what went on inside the institutions from 1921 to 1996 with all issues examined within a human rights framework. They also would like compensation for victims and believe that the religious orders should pay for the compensation scheme. They can be contacted by email at Birthmothersforjustice.n.i@ hotmail.com or by phoning Mr Duffy on 07718645924.

Too many people want what happened to be put in the dustbin EUNAN DUFFY PORTADOWN, CO ARMAGH

TOUGH FIGHT Eunan Duffy was taken from his mother