VICTIMS OF CRIME, LIES AND DECEIT

Three women who recently discovered they were illegally adopted break free from the secrets to tell their stories for the first time to

AFTER years of fruitless campaigning, it seemed Ireland was finally owning up to its illegal adoptions scandal. It had long been feared many babies were falsely registered as the biological children of their adoptive parents.

In 2018, the then minister for children, Katherine Zappone, disclosed that an audit of adoptions from St Patrick’s Guild, a former adoption society run by the Sisters of Charity, revealed that 126 adoptions were illegal. Calls for an inquiry followed, and the minister commissioned a wider review. An RTÉ Investigates programme broadcast last week shone fresh light on illegal adoptions.

Ms Zappone’s successor, Roderic O’Gorman, has promised to publish a two-year-old unpublished review of illegal adoptions this week, and the Government is promising legislation allowing adopted people access to their birth records, which has been long denied.

Barnardos, the charity that supports adoptees, estimates that at least 15,000 people were illegally adopted across all the religious orders, agencies and DIY practitioners involved in the adoption racket.

In the meantime, the number of illegal adoptions at St Patrick’s Guild has risen to 151.

Tusla, the child and family agency, has tracked down many but not all of them over the last two years.

Some have died. Others could not be located. Many had no idea they were even adopted.

Three women who discovered they were illegally adopted speak today for the first time about the devastating impact these revelations have had on their lives. One of the women, Nessa Mary McGuinness, said she feels she is “a victim of lies and deceit”. They are also the victims of crimes with lifelong consequences.

Gardaí are expected to ramp up investigations into illegal adoption from this week, and it is understood that a number of people have made criminal complaints that their birth records were falsified.

Advancing cases will be difficult. A review of sample cases sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions two years ago resulted in no further action being taken, it is understood, because they were statute-barred.

Susan Lohan, of Adoption Rights Alliance, said this is not good enough.

“The State has to recognise the human rights abuses of these injustices,” she added.