Opinion

Terms of Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Inquiry too narrow

There is little to disagree with in powerful condemnations of the scandal of the Tuam babies, interred without ceremony or dignity in underground burial chambers, destined to be forgotten in perpetuity.

Except, the discovery in 2010 of 220 children’s remains from Dublin’s Protestant evangelical Bethany Home in unmarked paupers’ graves, did not generate an equivalent of one opening newspaper paragraph on ‘the depravity’ of Protestant, as distinct from Catholic, Ireland.

It is often forgotten that social control mechanisms in the Irish state were provided by a Churches and state alliance.

More than one Christian community treated unmarried pregnant women and their marginalised children appallingly, on both sides of the border. Indeed, for the evangelical Protestants who ran the Westbank home in Greystones the border was a convenient line over which ‘poor Protestant orphans’, that were deliberately denied adoption, could be paraded for fundraising purposes. Small children were used as farm labourers in return for funding as well.

The Church of Ireland Magdalen Home and its associated Nursery Rescue Society also literally farmed out supposedly fostered children as free labour, from the age of five. A survivor who entrusted me with assisting him in drawing up his life story, referred to as ‘John’ in an Irish Times article (July 8, 2014), was the only one of a group of seven he knew while growing up not to succumb to drink and drugs, as a means of escape. The fact that he was sent to a prestigious boarding school as a teenager masks the treatment. He and fellow ‘foster’ children were not permitted to play school games and were sent instead to work on the school farm. They were thrashed regularly for failing lessons, unsurprisingly as their primary schooling was interrupted with unrelenting farm work. Other boarders went to their families at the weekend, while the abandoned ‘fostered’ children were left behind on their own.

It is a great pity that the terms of reference of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Inquiry are too narrow to enable examination of what happened to children when they left their respective mother and baby homes. Some of the latter are not even on the list to be examined by the commission. The terms should be expanded.

For marginalised Catholic and Protestant children, living and dead, their treatment was similar, more so than different. The state is a culprit that has in the past been happy to hide behind Church responsibility. In 1939 the state’s deputy chief medical adviser, Dr Winslow Sterling Berry, undermined official and public concern about death and illness in the Bethany Home with: ‘It is well known that illegitimate children are delicate’. 

Dr NIALL MEEHAN


Griffith College, Dublin 8

A nationalist perspective on future of unionism

This election needs to be a wake up call for unionism. The colour of demographics is only going to be greener going forward.


In terms of social/moral issues unionism is behind the times and views of the majority of people in the UK and Ireland. Unionism  most definitely now needs to rebrand itself.


Twentieth century conservative unionism does not cut it anymore in Northern Ireland. Open, pluralistic and liberal unionism is needed to ‘save the union’ in the long run.


As a nationalist and a liberal I have to say I am immensely proud of the election result. Not at the expense of unionism or what they’ve lost, but what the majority of Northern Ireland has voted for and how it has changed everything. This is a watershed moment in the history of Ulster. A state that was created to ensure a constant unionist majority, has finally failed to do so. What I want to see is unionism actually giving me a decision to make in any future border poll. I want them to sell a modern progressive alternative.


If they can do this it can only be a good thing for Northern Ireland moving forward, making it a more open and diverse country.


Even if unionism could achieve this I will probably still vote for a united Ireland, but unionism needs to at least try and capture my vote.


However, I can not see the DUP delivering this rebrand and I hope the UUP don’t revert back to trying to out DUP the DUP.


Hopefully the new UUP leader will step up and say ‘you know what, we are the modern and progressive unionist alternative’. It may hit UUP hard electorally at first but over time it could flourish.


If this does not happen I believe the UUP will disappear along with unionism ultimately. 

TIM SAVAGE


Ballymena, Co Antrim

Alternative facts need to be addressed

The BBC has recently reported alternative facts. This needs to be called out and addressed. Both BBC News and Daily Politics reported that the Stormont legislature has a constitutional nationalist majority and a unionist minority. Despite the confident and assertive political reporting this simply is not true. There is no nationalist majority in Stormont. Neither 39 nor 40 legislative seats – and the latter would be contested –  out of 90 is a majority. Better still nationalists do not even have a plurality at Stormont.

Unionists do have a majority at Stormont as 48 is an outright majority out of 90 thus they also have the plurality. The 48 unionist representatives include independent Claire Sugden, Traditional Unionist Voice’s Jim Allister, 28 DUP seats (a plurality within party political context), 10 UUP seats and the eight Alliance Party seats. Alliance may designate themselves as other but they are unionist. The Alliance Party split from the UUP in the 1970s as the New Ulster Movement. Additionally all eight Alliance representatives in Stormont are unionists elected in predominantly unionist constituencies.

EAMONN MacGRIANNA


Beal Feirste BT11

Paisley’s manoeuvring

It is with increasing interest that I follow Ian Paisley’s post-election commentary. The DUP has always conducted its internal business in an efficient and quiet manner which has marked contrastingly with their unionist rivals and more recently with Corbyn’s Labour Party. Mr Paisley’s record at Westminster may be of concern to many in the north but his recent comments hint at a willingness to move forward which feels profound from a member of his party. Be it because of the sting of defeat or more deep-seated personal reasons, Paisley’s manoeuvring has been the most interesting sub-plot of the week so far. As always, the proof will be in the eating. However, on the day Arlene Foster called for one unionist party it appears that her own party is not singing from the same hymn sheet.

TERENCE BROWN


Belfast

Assembly predictions

With negotiations going on, on ‘the hill’ I’d take a good stab at predicting the most likely outcome. The DUP will stall long enough to ensure that a new poll would unite unionists and restore the status quo, thus ensuring an amalgamation of various strands of unionism. Having had this fright unionists would turn out en masse and thus restore the majority at Stormont.  While I have no interest in their little games on ‘the hill’ if I were a unionist, that’s what I would do.

NOEL DEVLIN


Cookstown, Co Tyrone

Concentrating MLA minds

Maybe all the recently elected MLAs to Stormont should be put on a zero hours contract, therefore paid only for work done. This would serve to concentrate their minds and stop the prevarications etc.

COLM LONG


Dunmurry, Co Antrim