Letters to the Editor: Recognition for every family affected by mother and baby homes

One reader writes in to say: 'The Church and the State demanded payment from adoptive parents as well as from the families of the mothers who were used and abused by all accounts'

Sat, 29 Mar, 2025 - 01:00

As a survivor of Sean Ross Abbey, I am horrified and deeply disturbed by the accounts of many of my fellow crib-mates. No amount of compensation could ever make up for the cruelty inflicted on women and girls and their children, but to essentially be told that your suffering was not long enough, or did not occur in a “sanctioned” location, compounds the loss for a mother or her baby’s lost family and childhood.

What happened in Ireland was human trafficking: The Church and the State demanded payment from adoptive parents as well as from the families of the mothers who were used and abused by all accounts, and then made to pay a price for their “upkeep” to regain their freedom, all while Church and State enjoyed the benefits of their free labour in laundries and orchards.

I am one of the lucky ones, I had wonderful adopted parents who made every effort to expose me to Irish culture and heritage while working hard to give me a good life. I’ve since discovered my birth family, and they are as loving and supportive as one could ask for.

Unfortunately, I was not able to meet my birth mother but I met two of her siblings and my own siblings and cousins, nieces, and nephews, etc.

It is my contention that every family affected should receive recognition and an apology and compensation for their loss. I also think the Government should provide at least one free airline pass a year to Ireland for every child removed from their homeland.

Philomena Guilfoyle,

New York

Certain levels of autism need wrap-around care

April is World Autism Month. As a mother of two boys with autism, this coming celebration feels like another blow to my children.

I live with the kind of autism that the media, Government, advocacy groups, and society are completely ignoring. We live every day on our last nerve not knowing what the day will bring and living a life of constant unpredictable behaviours; behaviours so extreme that society pretends like it’s not happening.

Goverments and advocacy groups ignoring and not acknowledging the severity of challenges parents like us face, sugarcoating the spectrum like no one side of it is more extreme than the other.

That by implementing strategies, sensory tools, and awareness, life will be somewhat different. It’s simply not true.

By not seeing the situation in its full truth, we are denying a cohort of children what they really need which is a wrap-around care approach.

Our lives consist of violent challenging behaviours to themselves and others on a daily basis. Walls, doors, furniture, and personal belongings broken. Expected to raise other children, work, and remain a member of society when inside your home can be falling apart.

Our children need a full-care approach which is impossible within the family home. They need medications to help balance the behaviours and moods, and help keep them somewhat level so people who are caring for them can actually do that without being at risk.

None of this is available for us, and we beg and plead but our voices are not loud enough.

This cannot be achieved until society recognises and differentiates between the spectrum. What we need most is for the Government to really see what is happening and not deny that our children exist

We need someone to advocate for our children. There is a certain level of autism that requires a wrap-around care approach from a younger age.

We need help so desperately, but right now the current advocacy groups are advocating and providing nothing for children like ours.

Autism has become a buzz word and we have been forgotten and not spoken about. Autism for some is not a super power or sensory disorder, it’s completely debilitating.

Advocacy groups represent a portion of the spectrum.

When we celebrate World Autism Month let’s not forget the families that are really struggling: The families begging and pleading with our mental health service to help but falls on deaf ears; the families dropping their child to strangers in a respite house to finally recharge for a night or two and the families who live in hope of getting a place; the families that reluctantly place their child in residential care because they can no longer manage the care needs; the families that want to take this option but just can’t, and the families that still live this extremely challenging life every day that no one recognises.

Autism is a spectrum and a wide one at that. Let us not forget that this April.

Stephanie Kavanst,

via email

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Litter created by failures to enforce bylaws

I read with interest in your publication recently, that a government minister launched the annual Tidy Towns competition for 2025 ‘Tidy Towns can help mitigate climate change’ ( Irish Examiner, March 25).

What I found ironic was that a politician should undertake such a task, considering the fact that, for years, successive governments and their bedfellows on local authorities are primarily responsible for the continuous volumes of litter dropped daily on our streets, because of a failure to enforce their own litter bylaws.

This should come as as no surprise as it simply reflects the general lack of political commitment by our national and local legislators on the subject of waste management.

60 years ago, as a child when many of us did not acknowledge the word environment, I can recall all household and industrially waste was collected in my home town of Fermoy by horse and cart, courtesy of the then Fermoy Urban District Council from each and every doorstep.

In contrast today, despite continuous political rhetoric on any subject related to the environment, the concept of a public collection service of all household and industrial waste remains no more than a pipe dream.

Tadhg O’Donovan,

Fermoy, Co Cork

Food traders ordered to close in Glengarriff

I know that the livelihoods of a small group of food traders in Glengarriff, West Cork, may not be of national importance but I know too that Ireland has a proud tradition of spreading the word about individual injustices and stopping them in their tracks.

It’s small things like these that can that can illuminate the need for more compassionate action by local councils. This case involves nine food traders who have created a high quality open air "food market" in the forecourt of Quills.

Last week, they given one week’s notice by Quills — regretfully, under orders from Cork County Council — to remove their vans from the forecourt by the end of the week.

These small businesses, created during lockdown, provided a facility that attracted visitors from far and wide, as well as those visiting the gardens on Garnish Island. Visitors also now throng the small shops in Glengarriff, making a day out of it.

For many of these traders, it is their only source of income from early spring to the autumn and it is shocking that they are to lose their livelihoods with such little notice and consideration for the years of investing in and building up their ventures.

Quills itself acknowledges regret at the economic loss to the whole village that the closure of this good market will result in.

I would have loved them to stay because they have brought no end of business to the village

So not only are the nine food businesses to lose their livelihoods, but the wider loss will be felt in the village of Glengarriff.

I hope that Cork County Council will rethink their directive to Quills to remove these businesses. At a time of such economic insecurity and anxiety I hope that the plight of a few small businesses can alert us to more compassionate ways of approaching planning issues.

Geraldine O’Mahoney,

Pitford Rd, London

Freezing humanitarian aid in Sudan is devastating

The impact of the cholera outbreak and US president Donald Trump’s executive order to freeze humanitarian aid is now having on South Sudan received comprehensive coverage by Niamh Griffin — ‘Cholera outbreak the latest crisis affecting those fleeing war into South Sudan’ ( Irish Examiner, March 24).

Ms Griffin reports that tens of thousands of people are likely to die, many of whom will be women and children, as a result of this freeze to humanitarian aid by the Trump administration. It’s heartbreaking and distressing to learn that this country is undergoing the world’s most severe humanitarian catastrophe and it seems that global announcements of help have amounted to nothing .

Trump and Elon Musk have made cuts to the United States Agency for International Development (USAid) . The Trump administration has stated it’s eliminating more than 90% of USAid’s foreign aid contracts and $60bn in overall assistance around the world.

Incredulously, Musk claimed that this aid agency was a criminal organisation that needed to be closed down

I found it intriguing to find that neither Trump or Musk provided any clear evidence to support this claim. It’s accepted that USAid is responsible for the most successful international health programme of the 21st century. In any case, we are now seeing the consequences that these awful decisions are having on these vulnerable poor souls.

While people are dying, the Trump administration are continuing to posit this notion that it’s their intention to use US taxpayers dollars wisely to advance American interests. All this is a bit rich considering that Trump appears to be now crashing the US economy as he lives in this chimeric world of being high on his own supply of fake news.

John O’Brien,

Clonmel, Co Tipperary

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