The chance to find out why more than 500 testimonies of survivors of the Mother and Baby Homes were destroyed will be lost unless the commission of investigation is extended by another year.
This is the view of the Social Democrats Galway City East councillor, Owen Hanely. His party has submitted a Dáil motion, to be debated this afternoon [Thursday February 25], to extend the time-frame of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission.
The commission will cease to exist by the end of this week. However serious questions and concerns remain over the destruction of 550 recorded testimonies of mother and baby homes’ survivors.
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Cllr Hanely said the destruction of the testimonies was “another traumatic turn in a difficult journey towards seeking truth and justice”, and he criticised the absence of any “explanation as to why this was the case, how this was done, and if any testimonies are salvageable”.
Last week, Independent Galway West TD, Catherine Connolly pointed out the “clear conflict" between what the commission said in its report, namely that there was a clear understanding that the recordings would be destroyed, and reports from those who went before the commission, who confirmed that at no stage were they informed that such audio recordings would be destroyed.
Cllr Hanely [pictured below] also noted that “many survivors are coming forward saying they had no knowledge this was going to happen”.
'Repeating the mistake of the past'
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It has been pointed out that the Commission of Investigations Act, 2004, provides that on the submission of the commission’s final report to a Minister, all documents created by, or for the commission, will be deposited with the Minister.
Cllr Hanley said the situation was one of “the State repeating it's mistake of the past”. He said: “Beyond the fact this commission represents an important legal and historical role, on a personal level telling these stories has a toll. For the State to erase these first hand stories and leave in its place a contested report is not the justice survivors needs."
Cllr Hanley has called on all Galway TDs to “support this simple but important step to ensure accountability”.
