As the dust settles on the mother and baby homes report, the backlash grows

Good morning.

As the dust settles on the State apology delivered by Taoiseach Micheál Martin after the release of the mother and baby homes report, Miriam Lord reflects on the "articulate anger" expressed in the Dáil.

She writes how Independent TD Catherine Connolly’s compelling and clear-eyed assessment of the report stood out above all other contributions in the Dáil on Wednesday.

“Inconsistent, shocking, poorly written, disturbing . . . I find the whole thing absolutely repulsive, to tell the truth,” Connolly said.

State apology to survivors must be backed by real action, says McDonald

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Miriam Lord: Government’s big gesture left in tatters by calm, articulate anger

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Bon Secours sisters who ran Tuam home offer ‘profound apologies’

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Commission into mother and baby homes recommends two redress schemes

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In his lengthy speech, Mr Martin spoke of a perverse religious morality, of warped attitudes and of the profound questions that the past raises.

One of the most powerful parts of the Taoiseach’s speech came when he pointed out former residents of these institutions often “talk of a feeling of shame for the situation they found themselves in”.

“The shame was not theirs – it was ours. It was our shame that we did not show them the respect and compassion which we as a country owed them.”

“It remains our shame,” he said. The Taoiseach also said the report had exposed the truth, but the backlash continues to grow.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald hit out at the report’s view that adoptions were not forced and declared: “There was slight hope that publication of the report would bring truth and real accountability, but for many those hopes were dashed.”

Survivors have raised concerns, and some say there are more questions than answers. Crucially, many women and adopted children are still fighting for access to information about their lives and past.

This is why what the Government does next will be, in many ways, more crucial than what is said in an apology.

In his report today, Pat Leahy writes the Government does not intend to hold a constitutional referendum to provide survivors with a right of access to their birth certificates. The commission of investigation's report suggested this should be done if it was needed.

In the last government, former minister for children Katherine Zappone grappled with this issue and implored the attorney general to help her find a way to give affected people access to their full birth information. The legislation completely stalled because one person’s right to information was blocked by another’s right to privacy.

The Government seems to believe that this time around it can rely on GDPR and so a referendum can be avoided.

Some in Government fear such a referendum could mushroom into a debate about other esoteric things rather than the specific topic at hand. The pressure will be on the Government in the coming weeks to ensure it is moving with the necessary speed on this important legislation.

Furthermore, two redress schemes – one for some children born in the homes and another for some women who gave birth in the home – have also been recommended by the commission, and prompt action will be expected on that.

The Government must also now look at options for dignified remembrance and memorialisation at the large institutions where infants died but where there are no further records.

The publication of the report marked a “moment of truth”, said the Minister for Children, Roderic O’Gorman, and revealed an Ireland where the State was defined by its absence. This Government has an opportunity now to step in and change that reality.

Trump impeached . . . again

Just before he swept into the White House in 2016, Donald Trump released a plan for his term in which he promised he would “restore honesty, accountability and change to Washington”.

As the curtain falls on his final days in the Oval Office, there has certainly been change. Honesty and accountability may yet have their day too.

Trump made history last night by becoming the country’s first president to be impeached twice.

As Suzanne Lynch reports here, House speaker Nancy Pelosi said Mr Trump was a "clear and present danger to the nation".

A week after a Trump-supporting mob invaded the Capitol, the House voted to impeach Mr Trump for “high crimes and misdemeanours” based on one article of impeachment – incitement of an insurrection.

The fine detectives of Twitter last night dug up a 2016 tweet from Donald Trump jnr where he wrote: “Dear Clintons, You know what’s deplorable? Being Impeached.”

As one witty retort went, it was “very rare to see a tweet age badly twice”.

Follow all the live updates on this story and no doubt plenty of others at irishtimes.com throughout the day.

Best reads

Hospitals told to suspend all non-urgent work due to surge in cases, writes Paul Cullen.

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Kitty Holland details how survivors have insisted religious orders must contribute to any redress scheme.

Playbook

In the Dáil, Leaders’ Questions will begin at noon, but the rest of the business is largely tied up with questions around education in a time of Covid-19.

There are two main debates: There will be a questions-and-answers session with Minister for Education Norma Foley after 1pm followed by another session with Minister for Higher and Further Education Simon Harris. Expect plenty of questions about the status of this summer’s Leaving Cert.

The Seanad resumes next Tuesday. There are a number of committees meeting, such as the PAC, but they are all listed as virtual private meetings so there won’t be much moving there today at all.