Mattie McGrath says report exposes pain and failures in care
Mattie McGrath addressed a parliamentary debate on the report into mother-and-baby homes and related institutional care. He welcomed formal apologies, condemned a malicious leak of the report, and urged redress, reconciliation and accountability for survivors.
Apologies and response
He welcomed apologies from the Taoiseach and the minister and acknowledged apologies offered by other religious figures and groups. He said survivors, their families and supporters have long sought the truth and that apologies, while important, can still feel inadequate.
Condemnation of the leak
He described the early Sunday newspaper leak as scurrilous, scandalous and despicable, saying victims should have seen the report first. He called for those responsible to be rooted out and criticised officials and doctors who sought out and disclosed sensitive information.
Findings on care and compassion
He said the pages of the report "cry out with pain and anguish," documenting treatment of women and children that would be unacceptable today. He noted that while some good people worked in mother-and-baby homes, compassion was often absent in many institutions and that the report is balanced in recognising the efforts of the majority of hardworking families.
State failures and next steps
He warned of a "conspiracy of silence" across communities and highlighted the inaction of the state, county homes, county councils and courts. He urged consideration of how to provide healing, restitution and a clear road map toward redress and reconciliation, emphasising that every life is precious and must be supported to flourish.
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Count Cora, thank you. This report before us today proves that history is a living thing and that unless we face it honestly, peace and the beginning of reconciliation will continue to evade us. I also would like to welcome the apologies of the Taoiseach and Minister O'Gorman and I listened to their speeches here and I also want to acknowledge the apologies of the Bonson Co. sisters today and indeed the Archbishop of Thume also and indeed the Archbishop of Dublin yesterday and so right well they may apologise and I'm shocked and disgusted as many survivors are and their families and supporters that stood with them all along in recent years, especially to get to the truth and try and get some semblance of justice. The scurrilous and scandalous leaking of this report at a week into Sunday newspaper is despicable and disgraceful and I heard Minister Martin in a previous report was leaked when he was, or teacher Martin, Michal Martin, when there was a previous report leaked he was furious and I hope he'll have the same fury now to root out the evil person I call him that leaked that maliciously leaked it to media before any of the victims had seen it before any of the victims had seen it or could see it and I think it's shocking and we have too much of that going on today but there's been doctors all over the place scurrying around for bits of information, don't mind how sensitive it is and how hurtful it is and how wrong it is and they're in highly paid positions also and they should be rooted out. As I said, the pages of this report cry out with pain and anguish. They tell us of a treatment of women and children that no one here would accept for one second, not a minute, if it was one of our own children, a daughter of ours or any relation. Not for one second, or should we? We must accept, however, painfully that compassion was often absent. In the one place where it was needed most, indeed the family, and also in many of the mother and baby homes also, some very good people worked there but shamefully a lot of people lacked compassion, especially in Christian institutions where Christianity was most needed and that was truly, truly lamentable and shocking. This is not to say that all families treated their children or grandchildren with such coldness and lack of compassion. They did not. The vast majority of people and families that existed in the time and period covered by this report were hardworking, decent family people, trying to eke out a living and educate their children also. Post war times and indeed, you know, post independence and indeed post world wars and very, very harsh times and very, very little mechanisation or anything else on farmlands or in the country. The balanced nature of this report makes that very clear and I want to thank all the people who walked on the report and thank them for, it's such a detail that I haven't read at all, I'd be wrong to say I had or any bits of it. It's a huge job of work and hugely eagerly waited for by the victims and I hope that they will get some solace from it and we will go forward in a properly chartered road map that we will be able to have a redress and have reconciliation. As I said, the vast majority of people at the time did their best. The report bears that out also. But it remains too true to say that there was something like a conspiracy of silence existed in our communities and our nation when it came to the issues involved. And that is very evident. It was a silence that produced endless grief and pain. Courage was present, but so too was a willingness to look the other way. We must accept that and blind eyes were turned all over the place. Apologies, however important they are, still feel inadequate, yet they must be made. This report is also marked by an awareness of complexity and the inability to portray one single group as a building of the peace. The inaction of the state, the conditions in the county homes and the role of the county councils and courts played in the entire sorry saga is also highlighted and rightly so. Yes, there was fault, grievous fault in many cases. How can we remedy this pain? I ask. How can we bring healing and restitution to all those involved? These are going to be important questions for us to consider. Every life is precious. Indeed, every life counts. And every life itself is the greatest opportunity to flourish at Cancola. That this did not happen for so many and for so long. We must do better. Our age history, which judges have done harshly as it has done to our predecessors and rightly so. Goera maha goos.
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