Sinn Féin is proposing a bill to allow survivors of Mother and Baby Homes access their records for a potential administration fee.
The party says it will be open to every person born in the institutions if it is passed.
Party Spokesperson for Children, Carlow Kilkenny TD Kathleen Funchion, says it’s one ‘very easy’ thing the state could do for survivors.
The move follows an apology yesterday by Kilkenny County Council for its involvement with Thomastown County Home which fell under the responsibility of the local authority until 1970. (More on that here).
At the council’s monthly meeting, plans too were signed off for a memorial to those who spent time at the Thomastown institution which was one of 18 investigated in the Mother and Baby Homes report published last week (details of that here) and was found to have appaling infant mortality rates.
Cathaoirleach Andrew Mc Guinness, who proposed the Council’s apology, says it was “hugely important” but “cannot undo the past”.
He adds they’ve already made agreements on where to place the memorial and they’d welcome contribution and suggestions from survivors.
Hear the full interview with Andrew McGuinnes on The Way It Is with Sue Nunn here:
Meanwhile, Mick Gorey was placed in the Thomastown County Home as an eight-year-old in the early 1950s. He’s not too impressed by the apology as he outlined to our Sue Nunn …
