The Taoiseach has said the state failed the women and children who were sent to mother and baby homes.
Micheál Martin made a formal apology in the Dáil after the publication of the report from the Commission investigating the homes.
He acknowledged that the dignity and rights of the mothers and babies involved were breached and not respected.
“The state failed you”
Taoiseach @MichealMartinTD apologises to #motherandbabyhomes victims pic.twitter.com/S8wuVTqCJv
— Seán Defoe (@SeanDefoe) January 13, 2021
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the government will work with those survivors on the next steps including financial restitution.
In his apology he said the women sent to the facilities "plainly should not have been there".
Meanwhile, oppositional leader Mary Lou McDonald said the state and the Church need to accept more responsibility for what happened.
For the women robbed of their futures, the children robbed of their childhoods, for those who died behind high-walls & iron gates, and those who made it out to tell the harrowing tale – let today be the start of that long road to justice.
This is not over #motherandbabyhomes 1/2 pic.twitter.com/WAAmePq4Yj
— Sinn Féin (@sinnfeinireland) January 13, 2021
She told the Dáil:"The truth is that these crimes were perpetrated by an irrational Catholic Church and a confessional state."
Sisters Apologise For Tuam Babies' Treatment
Meanwhile, The Sisters of Bon Secours say they failed to live up to their Christianity when running the Mother and Baby Home in Tuam. Co Galway.
They've apologised for the disrespectful way children who died at the facility were buried, and say they are willing to participate in a redress scheme for survivors.
The Archbishop of Tuam has also apologised for the suffering and pain caused and asked for forgiveness.
Historian Catherine Corless feels questions still remain about the adoption practices at many mother and baby homes:
"We know that there was a massive amount of deaths in Tuam alone."
Ms Croless also said that the report was "a litte vague" regarding adoption.
If your children ever ask you about heroism, tell them about Catherine Corless.#motherandbabyhomes pic.twitter.com/Z6HMeJsI5X
— Darren O’Keeffe (@darrenjokeeffe) January 12, 2021
"I think a lot of people were disappointed that it wasn't gone into in more detail in the report."
