This very disturbing email alert was sent to me by Mr Michael Copeland MLA in which he calls for an enquiry into the activities of two Children's Homes in and around Dublin that will have ramifications for church people in Northern Ireland. It is so sad that evangelicals have been actively involved in and supported this scurrilous behaviour which lasted for about 40 years. Hundreds of children have been seriously abused in these 'homes,' leaving behind seriously traumatised young people and adults.
Questions need to be asked about the role played by the churches in this affair. What checks did the churches carry out before they put their imprimatur on these institutions, and what ongoing supervision took place over these years? Protestant churches ought to have been aware of such things given the scandalous behaviour and cover-up of the same kind of activity by Roman priests. Before unmarried mothers were directed by the churches to these two 'homes,' checks ought to have been made to determine their suitability for such vulnerable women.
Mark my words! There is much more to come out in this regard.
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| Michael Stewart Copeland
updated his status: "We welcome moves to include Westbank Orphanage,
Greystones, in inquiries into institutional abuse in Northern Ireland.
Children from Westbank were trafficked illegally over the border and
placed with unregistered foster carers. Children in the home and in
fostering arrangements suffered physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse.
The orphanage was unique in that children were hardly if ever adopted.
Some 'children' remained in the home into their early thirties. The
orphanage appears to have operated without proper supervision from the
1950s until it closed in 1998. In 2011 residential records were removed
from the PACT counselling service by the Trustees of Westbank in Bray
Gospel Hall.
Children whose mothers were from Northern Ireland gave birth in Dublin's
Bethany Home, Rathgar, before being transferred to Westbank Home.
Bethany Home should, therefore, also be included in the NI process.
219 Bethany children are buried in unmarked graves in Mount Jerome
Cemetery in Dublin, while many who survived suffered lifelong illnesses
and/or were sent into dysfunctional and abusive situations (including
Westbank). Derek Leinster is one of those children. The state sanctioned
neglect and death in Bethany when the Deputy Chief Medical Adviser, who
was investigating reported abuse, stated in his report, 'It is well
known that illegitimate children are delicate and marasmic'. ('Marasmic'
is another word for starving).
Mothers of three of the undersigned had children born in the Bethany
Home. Sydney in 1964 and Colm in 1967 were sent to Westbank. They were
sent back and forth over the border, sometimes on fundraising trips to
perform for church groups. Sydney's mother was from Northern Ireland.
Three of her children were sent to Westbank, one of whom was born in
Bethany. Colm's mother gave birth to two children in Bethany who were
sent to Westbank. As it was policy in Westbank, children were not told
their siblings were also there.
A number of religious denominations large and small, from the Church of
Ireland to Presbyterians, Methodists, Free Presbyterians, Baptists,
Plymouth Brethren, gospel halls, and the Orange Order, were involved in
directing unmarried mothers to, and/or raising funds for, Bethany and
Westbank. This diffuse association makes it possible for churches to
deny specific responsibility for what went on in institutions run by
evangelical Christians. Leaders of the CofI, Presbyterian and Methodist
congregations twice met privately to discuss Bethany, but did not issue a
statement.
The Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter, has given written commitments to
TDs and MLAs from the Democratic Unionist Party, the Unionist Party,
the Labour Party and from Sinn Fein, to do something, sometime, about
demands of former Bethany children for official recognition and for
justice.
Bethany and Westbank operated in the Republic of Ireland. Perhaps an
inquiry into their activities will begin in Belfast while Justice delays
in Dublin" |
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