The CMABS team have been working for a year on a complaint to the UN Committee against Torture and intend to submit their report in the coming months prior to the UN's examination of Ireland in 2015.
They said in a statement that Minister Flanagan said it had been an extremely constructive meeting and had asked for further assistance from the group in advance of the Terms of reference for the Commission of Investigation being announced, which is expected next week. With regard to the inclusion of the county homes in the Commission of investigation, the group highlighted to the Minister that it was essential that all institutions were to be included in order that no survivors are excluded. One survivor from the Westbank/Bethany Home shared his own personal experience with the Minister and called for all Protestant homes to be included.
The issue of memorials for all Angel plots was also raised by Paul Redmond who said that this would be a concrete gesture to begin the process of healing. Minister Flanagan said he understood the importance of this to the community and he was anxious to assist towards the memorials.
CMABS asked to be consulted on the structure and rollout of the Inquiry. The Minister was urged to include all related issues surrounding the separation of single mothers and their babies and children since 1922 as well as all other related matters including, not limited to, inhumane/degrading treatment and high mortality rates, vaccine trials, vaccine trials, Banished Babies, all Protestant institutions, open adoption records, a proper investigation of the Magdalene Laundries, fathers rights, etc., be included in their entirety. Theresa Tinggal of Adopted Illegally Ireland also called for a full investigation into illegal adoptions to be included.
CMABS legal advisor Mairead Healy made a persuasive argument that an independent and international Judicial Chairperson be appointed to the Inquiry and asked to have a direct input into the selection of all key personnel for this Inquiry. The Minister was presented with a list of potential candidates who may be available.
"We welcome this positive meeting today as a sign of the Government's commitment to addressing these issues", said Paul Redmond, spokesperson for the Coalition. "As the largest representative body of survivors, we want to ensure that this is the final institutional inquiry, allowing Ireland to once and for all face up to its past and close this very sensitive chapter in our history. We are committed to our belief that -- No one gets left behind."
* The Coalition of Mother and Baby home Survivors (CMABS) is the largest group of survivor representatives in Ireland. Formed in 2013 with the sole purpose of working together to prepare a complaint to the UN Committee Against Torture, its membership is made up of Adoption Rights Now, Beyond Adoption Ireland, Adopted Illegally Ireland, the Bethany Home Survivors, the Castlepollard Mother and Baby Home group and the Dunboyne Mother and Baby Home group. Internationally, it is connected to, and supported by, similar groups including the Adoption Coalition.