Open letter: We’re survivors and our testimony is proof

I AM the Chairperson of the Coalition of Mother And Baby home Survivors (CMABS) and I [Paul Jude Redmond] was born in Castlepollard M&B home in 1964; Clodagh Malone was born in the notorious Saint Patrick’s on the Navan Road in Dublin.

Now that the Commission of Inquiry has issued its long-overdue final report and the Taoiseach has formally apologised in the Dáil, it seems an opportune moment to draw a deep breath and step back and reflect on the wider issues surrounding these historic events. The State is already trying to exclude as many survivors as possible from redress by arbitrarily setting a deadline of a ‘six month’ stay.

The sad fact is that losing a baby to forced adoption is a traumatic event in a mother’s life causing a form of post-traumatic stress disorder and it makes zero difference how soon after birth this trauma is inflicted. The horror remains, the depression, anxiety, nightmares, flashbacks and secondary infertility, etc. etc.

Sadly, the commission’s final report is deeply flawed, although it could never have been any other way since its narrow terms of reference effectively excluded important sections of our wider community.

Up to 15,000 people in Ireland and abroad were illegally adopted during the timeframe under investigation and they were excluded, despite the fact that our campaign for truth and justice emphasised that many of these people were unaware they were adopted and consequently, they have spent their entire lives giving false, misleading and potentially lethal family medical histories to doctors and hospital staff. Equally, many of the religious-run adoption agencies who were an integral part of the overall ‘system’ were known hotbeds of criminality and little more than baby traffickers.

Despite our age, we will have to dust off our placards and Zimmer frames and head for the Dáil again. It appears both Taoiseach Martin and Tánaiste Varadkar have been reading the Catholic Church’s bumper book of excuses as both tried desperately to deflect the blame from the State and their respective political parties.

Is the Commission saying they don’t accept the testimonies of the 500 plus survivors who testified to the inquiry? It certainly looks like it. What was the point in our testifying if our word was to be doubted? Our testimonies ARE the proof. Survivors have heard enough political waffle to last a lifetime, we need action while some of us are alive.