NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph
‘All money in the world can’t make up for what we took…’ Nazareth children were wronged, admits nun
BY JOANNE SWEENEY – 12 SEPTEMBER 2014
Catholic children who were selected for migration “to populate Australia” had been done a “grave injustice”, the Sisters of Nazareth religious order has admitted.
Abandoned, orphaned or illegitimate children were given a “glowing report” of what life would be like for them in Australia and were selected by the order as long as they were white, “(had) good health and good stock”, the Historical Abuse Inquiry heard yesterday.
The admission came from the congregation’s spokeswoman as she gave evidence to the Banbridge inquiry concerning the placement of 111 children from its homes in Belfast and Londonderry in Australian institutions in the 1940s and 1950s.
Sister Brenda McCall acknowledged the lasting impact of the migration scheme on the children and told the inquiry: “With hindsight, the congregation regrets the grave injustice done to these children in sending them out, not just the children but to their families as well.
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