IRELAND
Irish Examiner
January 13, 2021
By Elaine Loughlin
Local and national authorities side-stepped responsibilities and caused confusion, allowing mother and baby homes to operate as they did
The Government knew everything but did nothing.
For the first 50 years after independence, as thousands of infants were left to die in mother and baby homes, the plight of unmarried mothers and their babies was never discussed at Cabinet.
Our local and national authorities conveniently created confusion and uncoordinated governance structures which meant that everyone was responsible but the finger of blame could be pointed at no one.
“Some oversight was exercised by national and local government but there was no clear policy on oversight and no clear demarcation between the roles of national and local government,” the commission found.
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