Castlepollard adoptees claim their access to building they were born in was denied

A group of adoptees from the Mother and Baby Home in Castlepollard say they were recently refused access to the building where many of them were born.

Around 90 mother and baby home survivors, a number of whom had travelled from abroad, met up on May 22 for their first annual reunion since 2019. As part of their itinerary, the group visited the site of the Castlepollard home.

One of the main organisers of the event, Paul Redmond, who is also the chairperson of the Coalition of Mother and Baby Home Survivors, says that in advance of the reunion the group had contacted the HSE and were given the go-ahead to visit a number of locations on the site, including the building that housed the maternity hospital.

However, Mr Redmond says that the night before the reunion he received a text from a member of staff informing him that the group would not be able to go inside the former maternity hospital as it is currently being used to temporarily house equipment from the Covid-19 field hospital at City West. Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner, Mr Redmond said that on the day the group visited the site of the former mother and baby home and asked one again if they could get access to the former maternity hospital, but were request was refused.

He says that the failure to get access to the building where they were born was particularly upsetting for the adoptees who were visiting Castlepollard for the first time.

“We have put in a formal complaint to Minister O’Gorman about it because it was very bad form. We had banished babies over from America, Canada and even Costa Rica and they were very disappointed. I was very disappointed for them. Our group [Castlepollard adoptees] has over 1,000 members and is growing all the time. The members that join nowadays are mostly older people who are just finding out about the group because they wouldn’t have been up to date with technology.

“We had one man there who was born in 1938 and it was his first visit, and he couldn’t go in to the hospital. There were other members and it was their first time to visit and they were really looking forward to seeing where they were born.

“It seems bad form that they didn’t tell us advance so that we could have at least warned people. Everyone only found out on the day when they turned up.”

To make matters worse, the group organised a day of events for the reunion that they planned to fund with a €2,500 grant from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

However, despite the fact that they were informed in January that they had their application had been successful, it still hadn’t been paid by the day of reunion, which meant the organisers had to pay for the programme of events, including a meal and live entertainment, in the hope that the grant would be forthcoming.

When contacted by the Westmeath Examiner, the Dept of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth said that it had “some difficulties in communicating with the group which regrettably resulted in a delay in processing this payment”.

“The department is pleased that these issues have now been resolved and can confirm that the funding transfer to the group’s account is due to be completed by the end of this week.”

On the adoptees’ claims that they were refused access to the maternity hospital, the HSE issued this statement: “It is regrettable if representatives of the Coalition of Mother and Baby Homes Survivors were given the impression that they could not have been facilitated with access to the building on the date of their visit, as maintenance staff were present during the visit to facilitate access if required. We understand that there was no request to enter the building on the 22nd May by any of those present. The HSE is available to facilitate access to the available locations in the building for the Coalition of Mother and Baby Homes Survivors at any point in the future, if this is required.

“Corridors and entry points are free, while several areas within the building are now being used as a temporary holding area for equipment which will be re-distributed across the HSE as needed. The building was identified to HSE Procurement by Community Service Management as a suitable location for storage due to the vacant status of the building. This building, along with another location in Tallaght, County Dublin is being used to store HSE equipment following decant of the temporary Covid-19 ‘field hospital’ at City West,” the statement said.

Mr Redmond says that the recent actions of the HSE and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has reinforced many adoptees’ views on the state and its institutions. “If you came from Costa Rica, how would you feel. You were thrown out of your country as a baby. You arrive back and you are barred at the very last minute [from visiting the building you were born in].”

Deputy Sorca Clarke says that after it “beggars belief” that after “all of the talk” by the government about making amends for the past that the adoptees from Castlepollard were treated in such a “deplorable” and “absolutely shocking” manner.

She added that it was “really bad form” that the HSE could not facilitate the adoptees and their families.

“A high proportion travel considerable distances from outside the country to find some kind of camaraderie and common sense of purpose with others who had been through the same situation. This does nothing to take away the sense of abandonment and the sense that the state is simply not hearing them,” she said.