Baby home backlash
Politicians backing the survivors in report row
THE Government has been rocked by a ferocious backlash, even from within, against the controversial report into the mother and baby homes inquiry.
Children’s Minister, Roderic O’Gorman, who is in charge of the report, has contradicted the findings of his own department’s inquiry.
He told Gavan Reilly at On The Record, on Newstalk radio, that women in the homes felt they had ‘absolutely no choice’ but to accept an adoption.
However, the Commission of Investigation had objected to the use of the term ‘forced adoption’, which was used often by the survivors. The minister said his own interpretation of details of the
‘This report does a huge disservice’
report is that these women were left with no other option but to part with their children.
He said the commission took a very legalistic approach to the issue of consent.
‘You see time and time again, women put in incredibly difficult situations, incredibly difficult circumstances and taking actions which, had support been provided by the State, I think we all know, they would have taken different responses,’ Mr O’Gorman said.
And former minister Regina Doherty slammed the ‘cold’ and ‘callous’ document.
In a surprising attack by a Government figure on a commission of investigation report, the Seanad leader has said it cannot be accepted by the Government.
Ms Doherty sharply criticised the commission for ignoring and refusing to believe the testimony of women who gave birth in the homes, and of their children.
She said she will call on Minister O’Gorman to sanction a new independent review when he comes before the Seanad tomorrow. ‘We should say that we absolutely believe the survivors,’ at the very least, she said.
‘I don’t think it’s good enough to stand as our nation’s response to our women and I think it should be reviewed. We accepted the report and I think that’s wrong.
‘This report does a huge disservice to treat them with language that’s so callous and so cold and completely lacks empathy,’ Ms Doherty added.
She told RTÉ radio’s Brendan O’Connor show that the Seanad would be back tomorrow, and that she will ask Minister O’Gorman to have ‘a document that actually acknowledges with empathy, with care, with understanding of the real lived experiences of these women’. Privately Cabinet ministers were also furious. One said: ‘This document reads like the submission for counsel for the defence.’ And one source criticised the minister, noting: ‘He is fairly embattled. You can hear the fear seeping through his voice as he wonders where’s the next landmine.’
Another minister said: ‘Even on radio he looks like a rabbit in the headlamps. He has, mind you, landed us in a mess. There has been an utter lack of empathy in this Government. You don’t need an opposition with this lot.’ Within the Greens, Mr O’Gorman’s own party, a source said: ‘The performance of O’Gorman as a minister goes a long way towards explaining why it took so long to elect him to the council, let alone the Dáil. He is another firstday-minister disaster.’ Party leader Eamon Ryan is also coming under pressure. One Green noted: ‘Roderic is a Ryan appointment. He is Eamon’s choice. Eamon must bear some responsibility.’ They asked: ‘Where is Ryan anyway? He had no message on this. He is out wandering around, asleep in the meadow again. He does not have the confidence of his party.’
Mr O’Gorman also apologised again over the upset caused by the report being leaked the weekend before its official publication.
But the struggling minister shied away from requesting that the commission attend a press conference to address the furious criticism of the report.
He said: ‘I think the commission is winding up its existence. I am not aware of previous circumstances and my focus is very much on the Government’s response.’
He added that while some survivors are unhappy, the Government’s focus was on information and tracing legislation and the restorative recognition scheme.