Amnesty International calls on Irish government to confront abuse of women and children

The director of Amnesty International Ireland has called on the government to fully investigate alleged human rights abuses, following the discovery of ‘significant’ quantities of human remains in Tuam, Co. Galway.

Amnesty director Colm O’Gorman has called on the government to "finally and fully ensure truth and accountability for what happened to women and children" in mother and baby homes around Ireland. The human rights organisation has called the discovery of a significant number of human remains at the site of the former Tuam Mother and Baby home "distressing" and cautioned that a comprehensive investigation is needed,

"These distressing revelations underline the need to ensure that this Commission of Investigation is a meaningful opportunity to finally and fully ensure truth and accountability for what happened to women and children in these institutions. Our thoughts are very much with those most affected by the reports, the women who were former residents of the home and their loved ones."

In June 2014, the Commission of Investigation into mother and baby homes in Ireland was established after revelations arose regarding an unmarked grave thought to contain hundreds of babies and children, on the grounds of the former Tuam mother and baby home. Such 'homes' were operated by religious orders with state funding for unmarried mothers to give birth from the 1920s up until the beginning of the 1990s, a time when bearing a child outside marriage carried significant social stigma. There have been longstanding concerns about how children and women were reportedly treated in these institutions, including apparently high child mortality rates, alleged illegal adoption practices, vaccine trials conducted on children without consent, and denial of medical care to some women. Mr O’Gorman says it's time for the government to confront the abuse,

"The Commission must not repeat the mistakes of other processes, in particular the government’s response to reports of abuse of women and children in the Magdalene Laundries. Confronting, acknowledging and dealing with past human rights abuses is essential if Ireland is to move forward as a rights-respecting society."

The Commission of Investigation will release its final report in 2018.