IRELAND
Irish Examiner
October 18, 2017
By Conall Ó Fátharta
The Government must push the Catholic Church and religious orders to open their records to abuse survivors and academics.
Catriona Crowe, former head of special projects at the National Archives of Ireland, said that it “should not be a matter of grace and favour” that survivors are granted full access to records, but a matter of right.
She said Ireland had seen unprecedented disclosures relating to treatment of vulnerable women and children across a unique archipelago of institutions — mother and baby homes, Magdalene laundries, industrial schools, and reformatories. She said the only way to achieve a complete picture of what happened is to have full access to their archives.
She said these institutions were run largely with the blessing of the State and, as a result, the State should now intervene.
“There should be very high-level talks between the Catholic Church and the State and the outcome of that should be that the Catholic Church would agree to put its records into an independent repository, including their parish records.”
Ms Crowe said some religious records were regarded as “a private fiefdom” by the Catholic Church, the dioceses, and religious orders.
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