Mother and baby homes report leak 'grossly insulting' to survivors

(Above) Paul Redmond at the site of the former mother and baby home in Castlepollard.

A survivor from the mother and baby home in Castlepollard has voiced his shock that details from the report by the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation were leaked to the press before its publication tomorrow.

Paul Redmond, who was born in the mother and baby home in Castlepollard and is the chairperson of the The Coalition of Mother And Baby home Survivors (CMABS), told Midlands 103 that he and fellow survivors are disappointed that details from the report were published in Sunday's Irish Independent.

“There has been so much communication from the department lately promising that we would be at the heart of everything and the first to know everything, so it was a shock that some person decided to undercut us like that,” he said.

“Everybody had psyched themselves up to see the report on Tuesday and had been psyching themselves up for weeks. All of sudden it's just thrown in front of you.”

The leaking of such sensitive information has also been criticised by a number of local TDs.

Deputy Sorca Clarke said that it “adds adds insult to serious injury for the survivors and their families.”

“It has become common place for this government to deliver their message to the Irish people beginning with a series of well-placed leaks, we have seen this in relation to cabinet appointments and Budget 2021 and in many other instances.

“However, this government has reached a new low. Despite expressly promising survivors of these institutions they would receive the report before it was made public, the people directly affected awoke yesterday to find the contents of this report spread across the pages of print media.”

Her Sinn Fein colleague in Meath West, Deputy Johnny Guirke said that he was “utterly shocked and sickened” to see that information had been leaked to the media before survivors had an opportunity to read the report.

“The survivors and their families have been through enough of an ordeal, having to fight for the unsealing of these records and all the promises from this government, they still managed to break their trust by leaking sensitive material to the media.

“The government were asked to put the survivors and their families first and address all their concerns as well prioritising that survivors see this report first, before being made public and once again despite many promises from government officials, this trust was broken.”

Aontú leader Deputy Peadar Tóibín said that leak was “grossly insulting” to survivors and their families.

“This report is bound to make for difficult reading, and will likely be distressing for survivors of institutional abuse, indeed counselling services are being offered to survivors. To see details of the report on the front page of a newspaper is a punch in the gut for survivors".

Deputy Tóibín continued: "Of course the irony is not lost on anyone - there was controversy earlier this year when it looked like survivors would be deprived of information, with the sealing of records for 30 years, and yet now it appears someone in the department/government has leaked contents of the report to the media. It is disgusting.”