Thread by @cmcgettrick

1/ A comprehensive analysis of the Commission Report will not happen this week.

It will take a considerable amount of time for us to attempt to access the Commission's sources (where possible that is) & carefully examine their conclusions.

2/ At first glance however, I'm afraid the signs are not good. E.g.:

The contention that adoption in Ireland was not forced.

The idea that women were somehow mistaken that they didn't fully consent at the time of the adoption.

3/ The recommendation on access to birth certificates is simply appalling. A similar model was robustly rejected by adopted people in 2019. (For more on adoption information access see: adoption.ie/wp-content/upl…)

4/ As an adopted person, I can't begin to describe how devastating it is to put painstaking effort into compiling your testimony, outlining how you have been failed by the State, only to find that your experience has been ignored by a State inquiry.

5/ The people affected by #motherandbabyhomes aren't a homogenous group. There are many different experiences, some involve institutions, some don't. The common thread is that human rights violations occurred in the past & continue in the present due to lack of access to records.

6/ As I say, a full and comprehensive analysis will take time, and that analysis will come.

7/ The indications are that the Commission has not done justice to the people affected by this issue.

State inquiries held behind closed doors are not the solution.

But @MichealMartinTD @rodericogorman & the Government have an opportunity to act differently this week. How?

8/ Firstly, @MichealMartinTD can immediately issue a comprehensive and inclusive State apology. See the pic & our Briefing Notes for guidance on the scope of that apology: clannproject.org/commission-rep…

9/ Secondly, @MichealMartinTD & @rodericogorman can immediately legislate to provide unconditional access to birth certificates for adopted people & access to records through proper implementation of the GDPR.

10/ Access to birth certs can be achieved by inserting this simple amendment in the next piece of legislation going through the Dáil (if govt can put an insurance amendment into the Commission records bill, I'm sure they can manage this)

11/ Then, as soon as possible, we need that dedicated archive.

Let this be the last State inquiry into so-called 'historical' injustices.

Open up the State and Church archives so that adopted people, survivors & natural mothers can read first hand about the system as a whole.

12/ Open the State and Church archives so that researchers can produce a body of work that faithfully reflects what happened to women & children in 20th Century Ireland.

(See also @maeveorourke legal analysis on reparations in our briefing notes: clannproject.org/commission-rep…)

13/ This week the State has an opportunity to build on its promises in October, to do things differently, to take a new approach in dealing with historical & ongoing human rights violations.

I sincerely hope @MichealMartinTD and @rodericogorman take that opportunity.

14/ If @MichealMartinTD leaves people behind in the apology, if the government proposes reparations that are an insult or legislation that makes matters worse, rest assured we are not going away.

15/ Moreover, the thousands of people who crashed the Leinster House servers on budget day in protest at Government plans to seal the Commission archive are also not going away. (irishexaminer.com/news/arid-4007…)

16/ In fact, one of the positive things about today is the realisation that people are getting it.

I see many of you already sounding the alarm, calling out the gaslighting that appears to permeate this report and it gives me hope.

(NB careful analysis still needs to be done)

17/ In 2013, once the Magdalene apology came, nobody (apart from @ococonuts @Tupp_Ed & a few others) was interested in what an insult the McAleese Report was to the women's lived experiences. This time feels different - this time we have a movement (as @Ka_ODonnell keeps saying!)

18/ I truly hope that this week things will be different, but that is up to the government.

The ball is in their court.

@MichealMartinTD @rodericogorman it is up to you.

19/19 Finally:

a) read the @clann_project report clannproject.org/clann-report/

b) read our briefing notes: clannproject.org/commission-rep…

c) last but by no means least, resources are available here: clannproject.org/resources/

and #Stand4Truth