No compensation if you haven’t suffered enough
28 March 2024
Part of Ireland’s dark past, so-called mother and baby homes were Catholic institutions for unwed mothers without family or support. Last week, the state opened a record €800 million redress scheme directed at previous tenants, but one aspect of it sparked controversy: those who stayed less than six months as infants are not eligible.
Usually led by Catholic nuns, many local authorities paid fees to these homes. Though they are not unique to Ireland, the country’s long tradition of religious conservatism and resulting stigmatisation of unmarried mothers means that an unusual amount of women were brought there. What these institutions entailed was little known outside their walls, although at least 68,000 mothers and babies are estimated to have gone through them.
In 2014, work from a historian on a local home in West Ireland revealed that about 796 babies were buried in an unmarked grave in a septic tank. The discovery prompted a two-year Commission inquest in 2018. Its report, published in 2021, detailed a history of physical abuse, unpaid labour, mass illegal adoptions to the US and abnormal rates of infant mortality that shocked the country.
The report also revealed that at least 300 babies and children had been inoculated during seven vaccine trials run by pharmaceutical giant GSK between 1934 and 1973, flouting ethical standards required for medical products even at the time. Yet, the company has refused to participate in the scheme or apologise to the victims.
 | Ciara Boulman Although the state apologised for its involvement in 2021, acknowledgement from other actors has been harder to obtain. Only one out of the six involved religious orders has agreed to contribute to the redress scheme. During his visit in 2018, Pope Francis reportedly only learned what mother and baby homes were when meeting with victims - but calls for the Church to contribute €2.5 million to the redress scheme remained unanswered. |
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