Irish government to apologise over mother-and-baby homes

[Pat Mustard]

Irish government to apologise over mother-and-baby homes

The Irish government is to apologise after an investigation found an "appalling level of infant mortality" in the country's mother-and-baby homes.

Established in the 19th and 20th centuries, the institutions housed women and girls who became pregnant outside marriage.
About 9,000 children died in the 18 institutions under investigation.
The government said the report revealed the country had a "stifling, oppressive and brutally misogynistic culture".
Taoiseach (Irish PM) Mícheál Martin said the report described a "dark, difficult and shameful chapter" of Irish history.
"As a nation we must face up to the full truth of our past," he said.

The commission that investigated the homes found that the number of children who died was about 15% of all those who were born in the institutions.
There were about 56,000 unmarried mothers and 57,000 children in the mother-and-baby homes and county homes investigated by the commission.

The report said "the women and children should not have been in the institutions" and that many women suffered emotional abuse.
The investigators say it appears there was "little kindness" shown to the mothers and "this was particularly the case" during childbirth, which many of the women found "a traumatic experience".


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-55622548

They were doing their level best to bury this report up until recently. Oh and Mickey Martin was part of the government that gave the roman catholic church a sweetheart deal on covering the compensation for the child sex abuse scandal, making them liable for only 10% of the costs (of which the church still hasn't coughed up).

Fuck you and your fake apology you spineless, gutless, anti-Irish sack of shit.

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That is a crazy number.  "Out of sight, out of mind".  Unwed mothers were an embarrassment to their families.

By fiat of the state and, most especially, the church. My guess is that, if they were given the choice, most families would have minded their own.