Speaking today at the Social Democrats\u2019 online National Conference, Holly Cairns TD slammed the Government for its shameful treatment of survivors of Mother and Baby Homes.<\/p>\n
Following a conversation with guest speaker Dr Maeve O\u2019Rourke, lecturer in Human Rights at the Irish Centre for Human Rights at NUI Galway, Holly said:<\/p>\n
\u201cMaeve has done such incredible work in communicating the injustices around institutional abuse in Ireland, from the Magdalene Laundries to the Mother and Baby Homes. Her work with the Clann project has been invaluable to all political parties and none, but especially to the survivors of institutional abuse in this State. Anybody seeking justice and truth needs this type of expert help.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been dealing with decades of abuse at the hands of the State and religious orders. It must be recalled that the Commission of Investigation was not set up because the State wanted to find justice \u2013 it was forced to do so after the tragic discovery of hundreds of babies and children in a mass grave in a disused septic tank in Tuam.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Commission was extended multiple time to allow it to do its work, yet the Government is denying survivors\u2019 requests for a further extension so that questions about the accuracy of their testimonies and access to their data can be dealt with. This week, the Government allowed the Social Democrats\u2019 motion on this issue to pass in the D\u00e1il while at the same time refusing to give legislative effect to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cConcerns raised yesterday by the Data Protection Commissioner about the Commission of Investigation\u2019s archives being handed over to the Minister for Children further highlight the need for an extension. This was supposed to be a truth-getting exercise, but we\u2019ve just ended up with untruths and inaction from the Government.\u201d<\/p>\n
February 27, 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Speaking today at the Social Democrats\u2019 online National Conference, Holly Cairns TD slammed the Government for its shameful treatment of survivors of Mother and Baby Homes. Following a conversation with guest speaker Dr Maeve O\u2019Rourke, lecturer in Human Rights at the Irish Centre for Human Rights at NUI Galway, Holly said: \u201cMaeve has done such […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[400,7,399],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holly-cairns","category-press-release","category-tds"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n