Seeking justice
The never ending story.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Yes, hi - it is still me. I just never properly branded this places and it needed a better name than just “Daniel’s Substack”. So, welcome to “Dan’s ThinkTank” with branding and colour scheme. So if you receive emails from this publication that don’t say Daniel’s Substack anymore, don’t fret it is still me!]
I’m five days into the daily commemoration I’m doing on social media, but I wanted to share a death entry for an infant that just missed being part of the commemoration.
In memory of John Purcell who died on May 29th 1929 aged only 5 seconds.
I have been thinking about John since the start, as he died in Kilrush Nursery: the very first mother and baby home to be covered by Project Infant. For the five seconds that John was in this world, it is completely disheartening to see the reluctance from the Irish government to properly honour and fight for justice for the lives lost in these institutions.
Now, with recent developments and the Director overseeing the Tuam excavation named as Daniel MacSweeney of the Irish Red Cross, the latest piece from the Irish Times talked about Catherine Corless’ reaction and thoughts on the director. You can read that piece here.
I must admit, I was quite optimistic reading the piece thinking almost a decade after it was revealed to the world, there may be some actual conclusive answers from this. But, it took a lot to get to this stage. After it was postponed numerous times, there was always the question lingering over whether we’d ever see the day wondering when we’d get past the point of wondering if it would happen. I also should mention that when the test excavations were carried out in 2017, Dr Niamh McCullagh who carried out this excavation had stated that temporary preservation measures had been put in place that would allow it to be preserved for six months until a proper excavation could be carried out. Five. Years. Ago. Almost half the amount of time that this whole scandal has been part of public knowledge.
Then that got me thinking… they deserve justice, defined simply as “just behaviour or treatment”.
Where is the justice for the survivors of these homes? For example, 24,000 of them are excluded because they did not spend enough time in those ‘homes’. That’s also if we take into account the thousands more survivors who aren’t a part of the redress scheme simply because the government never investigated that particular institution. That’s not justice, that is exclusion. Where is the justice for them?
Where is the justice for the mothers who went through those ‘homes’ and were separated from their children?
Where is the justice for the families of those who died who want to know where they’re buried?
Where is the justice at all?
Only a small part of the whole picture is being looked at. I’d be pretty confident in saying that there are many more people who have some form of connection to these homes than I think we believe.
This fight is far from over. We need to do right by the mothers and children who died in these institutions. Think of it this way, just because Tuam had garnered international outrage and many eyes were on the government looking at them to do something, why can’t the same be done again… and again and again, until actual justice is served.
What are your thoughts?
Certainly I think at the bare minimum, all the while there are living people who experienced those places, or who remember those lost (even if they may not yet know they're connected) then the push for justice needs to be maintained. What form of justice do those already connected feel would be required, I wonder? I'm sure no amount of financial compensation would make up for what was lost, even supposing that was on the table. Official acknowledgment and a public apology from those government institutions that allowed these terrible things to happen? A national memorial listing all the names at a government building? An historical record for future family historians to discover their connections also seems important (in addition to your site, that is) - a physical, permanent memorial, like the Commonwealth War Graves Commision would seem appropriate, I think? So yes, yes, yes! I should add that I am not aware of having a familial connection to any of the homes, BUT i have a 3 x great grandma from Dublin, so it is entirely possible that I may find one as I research her family and descendants.