Taoiseach says Bethany home will be part of inquiry

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has signalled that the Protestant-run Bethany Mother-and-Baby home in Rathgar, Dublin will be included in the Government's investigation, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said.

He said “the Bethany Home has to be investigated” and told the Dáil Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin Dr Michael Jackson had written to him today.

Confirming the Government’s intention to establish an inquiry Mr Kenny said “we do so with a sense of sadness but equally a sense of duty and resolve”.

He said it was about examining a period in Ireland when women, particularly young women, were silent and were silenced. “It was an extraordinary time when Mná na hÉireann and poor women especially were held up to a particularly high and callous account”, he added.

He said “their treatment and their babies’ was an abomination”.

He said the inquiry would consider a time “when there was a disturbing symbiosis between Church and State, where a sin became if not quite a civil wrong, then certainly a civil offence”.

He told Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin his call for a proper counselling service and a 24-hour helpline staffed with qualified personnel to be put in place immediately would be taken on board by Minister for Children Charlie Flanagan.

He said the Minister would fully consult the Opposition

“This is an issue for Ireland because if this is not handled properly then Ireland’s soul in many ways will like the babies of so many of these mothers, in an unmarked grave.”

He told Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams that the Bethany home would have to be investigated. The home on Orwell Road in Rathgar was not included in the investigation linked to the Magdalene laundries despite calls from survivors.