Mother and Baby Homes

History in Ireland

To appreciate how, and more importantly, why there is such controversy over the findings in the report, we must go back to the formation of the Commission and its terms of reference.

The terms of reference are the roadmap within which the Commission was to navigate its work. This gave authority to the Commission to carry out its function, namely to investigate and to report its findings to the Government on the institutions and wider society at the time.

One of the many powers and objectives the Commission had was to set up a confidential committee. This was to operate in tandem with the Commission and operated as a mechanism whereby survivors could give their evidence while remaining unidentified in the report

However, it later emerged that the commission gave little (if any) weight to the hundreds of accounts given to it by former residents of the institutions. This will be discussed in detail below.

Commission and Report

In January 2021, the Commission of Inquiry into Mother & Baby Homes released its final report.  A number of the findings and conclusions of the report have been marred by controversy and public outcry.

The long-awaited report took six years to be published. Following several controversial extensions, the Commission immediately set about seeking to close the book on this tragic and often cruel chapter of Ireland’s history.

However, it appears that the members of the commission and indeed the government failed to appreciate immediately just how significant some of the omissions in the report are or were to become soon after.

The omissions discussed in this piece go to the root of the findings of the report and place a serious question mark over its credibility and, indeed over a significant number of its conclusions. The Commission failed to appropriately manage communication to and with the survivors, particularly when it came to the testimony given to them over the years.

That coupled with their refusal to appear before the Oireachtas, have rightly cast a significant shadow over not only the individuals who made up the Commission, but also the Government itself. In this piece Norman Spicer, a solicitor representing a number of survivors discusses the problems with the report and provides an update on where things stand at present.

The Commission & Tuam

We have more than 30 years of collective experience pursuing claims for those affected by the legacy of Ireland’s shameful past. One of the reasons the Commission was set up was due to the considerable efforts of local historian Catherine Corless.

Ms. Corless first raised the alarm regarding deaths and burials on the grounds of the former mother and baby home that was operated by the Bon Secours order in Tuam Co. Galway.

The Commission was made up of 3 members. These included Judge Yvonne Murphy (Chair), Professor Mary Daly (Retired Professor of History), and Dr. William Duncan (retired Professor of Law). It took almost 6 years to deliver its report at a cost of around €13.5 million.

The report was delivered on the 12th of January 2021 [1] after several delays.

How we can help?

Coleman Legal has been working with many clients over the past five years who have been residents in Mother and Baby Homes and County Homes, both as mothers and as children.

We are currently liaising with our clients on the recent announcement and are reviewing documents received from our clients. Anybody who has not filled out paperwork will be asked to do so. These forms can be emailed or posted out to you for convenience. This will allow us to get your paperwork ready so that no time is wasted when the scheme opens. We will prepare your application to the Scheme on your behalf and submit it to the State body administering it.

Applications & Documents

It is also important to note that if you wish to take up a copy of any records from your time in the institution you can do so by contacting Tusla at this link

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