IRELAND
Irish Examiner
By Fiachra Ó Cionnaith and Juno McEnroe
An independent commission of investigation must be set up into deaths at religious-run mother-and-baby homes, should examine claims of illegal adoptions at the facilities, and needs to be completely independent of Church and State.
Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin issued the call for action — which goes far further than existing Government plans for an inter-departmental “review” of already available files — after a week of revelations surrounding the deaths of 796 children in Tuam between 1925 and 1961.
Speaking on RTÉ radio yesterday, the senior Catholic Church official said any commission must be given “full judicial powers” and involve the gardaí so individuals can be compelled to provide all records.
He said it should be led by someone “of the calibre” of Ian Elliott, the former head of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church, and must be independent of both Church and State to ensure transparency, as Church and State were “entangled” with each other in the past.
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