Pertinent questioning of the Taoiseach by @orlaryan who asks 1. what the State will *specifically* be apologising for tomorrow and 2. whether the Church should apologise for its role in the existence and running of these mother and baby homes.
The Taoiseach said the State was complicit and neglectful which led to children not being protected. Instead of thriving, they had reduced chance of survival.
He also noted its direct responsibility for county homes.
Micheál Martin gave a specific example of how the mother superior at Bessborough was not removed from her position in the 40s despite inspector reports highlighting the 'very high death rate'.
That highlights the lack of action, the Taoiseach said.
On the Church, Micheál Martin said it should examine this report, particularly the sectors which "behaved so badly".
He mentioned the Church's role in the "very perverse moral code in relation to sexuality" and how the system "undermined the dignity of every human being"
Roderic O'Gorman said he has written to the congregations involved about an apology, a contribution to the redress scheme and further assistance in finding documentation. He awaits their response but wants to meet them.
And more on this from the Taoiseach. But as he notes, there is a *lot* of legal work to be done to see that actually happen. Quelle surprise.
The Sisters of Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary who ran Bessborough have issued this statement.
And a statement from the Daughters of Charity.
What is striking is the passive language and attitude in many reactions today.
Shame isn't a sentient being. 'Shame' can't shoulder blame. Shame can't apologise. How was shame cultivated and to what end? Who benefitted from the shame?
We know who suffered because of it.
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The M&B Home Report is 2,865 pgs long. The survivors need time to digest it.
Historians and academics need time to distil it.
The public needs to understand it.
The work by journalists across all outlets today (and for many years) is helping all that to happen. A thread...
I'd advise people to seek out reports which include first-person evidence and points you to primary sources before reading opinion pieces (they'll have a place later on) and hot-take tweets (of which we're all guilty).
There have been superb pieces written and broadcast today.
I'll just give you a sample of our own work from @thejournal_ie here as a start.
In Dec, I was really surprised how the UK struggled to publish vaccination numbers. It was described there as such an 'own goal' because they were actually doing well.
I mentioned yesterday on @RadioBrendanRTE that I hope we learn from the UK system - its failures and successes - but we are now in our own 'own goal' territory now by not publishing the figures from the first two weeks.
Publication isn't due until Thursday.
On radio, @paulreiddublin has given numbers so we have been told that 35k were done last week. And we know from individual hospitals that there are some good news stories out there.
But the official vacuum is leading to misinformation like this.
Well! That was quite the 24-ish hours. We don’t quite know the full ramifications it all yet but it feels important to remember and document everything.
So… a thread:
7pm on 20 August: The Irish Examiner published the story and @aoifegracemoore tweets it out. In my version, she hit send while taking a big gulp of red wine like Olivia in Scandal (before she went bad).
Small thread on the Kerry radiology review - looking at the numbers, as broken down here by @GAodhajrnl.ie/4379135
The review - the biggest radiology lookback every carried out here - looked atl 46,000 radiology scans. All were examined by ONE consultant radiologist between March 2016 and July 2017. That's 46,000 scans in 15 months. Well over a hundred a day.