IN PLAIN SIGHT

Amnesty International
June 11, 2014

http://www.amnesty.ie/content/plain-sight

The recent public and political focus on allegations of human rights abuses in Mother and Baby Homes has rekindled an important public discussion about the need to address past human rights abuses, and the relevance of such issues to Irish society today.

But of course this is not a new debate in Ireland. In recent decades there have been a number of such investigations.

The abuse and exploitation of tens of thousands of Irish children in State funded institutions as detailed in the report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (the Ryan Report) and the abuse detailed in the Ferns, Murphy (Dublin) and Cloyne Reports constitute arguably the gravest and most systemic human rights violations in the history of this State.

In 2011, in response, Amnesty International Ireland commissioned a report to assess these violations, and the State’s responses to them, against the standards dictated by international human rights law.

But the focus cannot be purely on the past, as if this history has no relevance for our society now. We must consider the degree to which this history reveals vital truths about the nature of our society today. The past only becomes history once we have addressed it, learnt from it and made the changes necessary to ensure that we do not repeat mistakes and wrongdoing.

This research highlighted the need for further investigation into a number of other areas of concern, including Mother and Baby Homes. Its findings, and the findings of public polling carried out as part of the research, are directly relevant to the issues that will be considered by the recently announced Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes.

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Polling data

Amnesty International also commissioned Red C to poll the nation in relation to these issues. It found the vast majority of Irish people believe they, as individuals, should have done more to protect children from abuse.