Abuse survivor raped at foster homes, sexually abused by nun

Annasophia Calman told the Royal Commission of Inquiry into state and faith-based care that because of the abuse she doesn't know who she really is. Mrs Calman shared with the Commission the harrowing details of her violent family home publicly for the first time. "Nothing in our cupboards, beaten by our father while he was drunk and we had to be eating out of rubbish bins to survive." She told the inquiry it wasn't just physical violence she had to endure.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/402840/abuse-survivor-raped-at-foster-homes-sexually-abused-by-nun 

Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in Ireland

From the late 1980s, allegations of sexual abuse of children associated with Catholic institutions and clerics in several countries started to be the subject of sporadic, isolated reports. In Ireland, beginning in the 1990s, a series of criminal cases and Irish government enquiries established that hundreds of priests had abused thousands of children over decades.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_sexual_abuse_cases_in_Ireland

Ethiopia Bans All Foreign Adoptions

Now, let’s follow up on the end of adoptions from Ethiopia. Many Americans adopted children from that country not so long ago. One of them is in my extended family. But after an Ethiopian girl endured abuse at the hands of her adoptive American parents and later died, the country banned all foreigners from adopting. Critics say this new policy could mean more children on the streets, although in Ethiopia, it’s a matter of national pride. NPR’s Eyder Peralta reports. EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE: I meet Nikki and Brad Huelsman at a hotel in Addis Ababa. NIKKI HUELSMAN: What’re you doing? What’re you doing?

http://www.satenaw.com/ethiopia-bans-all-foreign-adoptions/ 

Further excavation at former Tuam Home site

Further excavation works are continuing at the site of the former Mother and Baby Home in Tuam.
The excavation of the Memorial Garden off the Dublin Road in Tuam began in late January and is expected to last up to three weeks. The works are being conducted by a specialist team of archaeologists lead by a Forensic Archaeologist, with the co-operation of An Garda Síochána.

http://www.galwayindependent.com/news/topics/articles/2017/02/15/4134952-further-excavation-at-former-tuam-home-site/ 

Belfast altar boy abuse case 'appalling' says Clonard priest

THE rector of Clonard Monastery has urged victims of historical abuse to contact police after a man was convicted for sexually abusing an altar boy at a Novena in the 1980s.
Martin Cassidy was placed on probation for three years on Monday for abusing the 14-year old in 1988 at the west Belfast novena.  The court heard Cassidy, of Orchard Mews in Belfast, was volunteering at the church at the request of his brother, who at the time was a priest.

http://www.irishnews.com/news/2017/01/18/news/belfast-altar-boy-abuse-case-appalling-says-clonard-priest-890249/ 

Abuse inquiry recommendations should be implemented with goodwill, says bishop

A Catholic bishop has said the recommendations of Northern Ireland's child abuse inquiry should be implemented with goodwill.
Noel Treanor hoped the report will help others who have been abused to find the strength and courage to come forward and report it to the authorities.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/abuse-inquiry-recommendations-should-be-implemented-with-goodwill-says-bishop-35388260.html 

Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry: List of homes investigated

The Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry (HIA) was established to investigate child abuse that occurred in residential institutions in Northern Ireland over a 73-year period from 1922 to 1995.
The following is a complete list of homes and institutions investigated by it:

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-38692627?post_id=10204672433356106_10208627943841396#_=_ 

Inquiry finds widespread child abuse in Northern Ireland homes

Belfast (AFP) - A four-year inquiry into abuses in care homes in Northern Ireland found widespread mistreatment in its final report on Friday and concluded that hundreds of victims were entitled to financial compensation.

The Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) inquiry found "evidence of sexual, physical and emotional abuse, neglect and unacceptable practices" from 1922 to 1995 in most of the institutions it investigated.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/inquiry-finds-widespread-child-abuse-northern-ireland-homes-172629542.html 

10 key points from HIA report

1. Tax-free lump sum payment to survivors of abuse, including in homes/institutions that were not covered by the HIA inquiry. The spouses or children of the 12 people who have died since giving evidence should receive 75% of the total lump sum. Sir Anthony said the minimum payout should be £7,500 to anyone who was abused, including those who experienced a harsh environment, or who witnessed such abuse. An additional payment of £20,000 would be made to anyone sent to Australia under a migrant scheme. An extra enhanced payment would be made to anyone who was more severely abused.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/10-key-points-from-hia-report-35384759.html 

Actress Jane Russell's adoption of Irish baby nearly ended her career

Hollywood star Jane Russell’s adoption of an Irishwoman’s child in the 1950s nearly ended the actress’s career.

Russell had already adopted a girl with her husband, NFL quarterback and kicker Bob Waterfield, but wanted to expand their family, according to the Journal.ie. News of the star’s desire for another child reached Hannah McDermott, a Derrywoman then living in London with her husband and young son. Reportedly Hannah offered her custody of baby Thomas on condition that Jane and Bob provided him with a good home, love and education.

http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/actress-jane-russell-s-adoption-of-irish-baby-nearly-ended-her-career 

In Search of Anastasia.

I was born in Saint Patrick’s Home, Navan Road Dublin 5.11.1954, according to my birth certificate my mother’s name is Anastasia O’Leary and on the certificate it states  that my mother originally came from Cron Nacole, Kiltegan,Wicklow. 

it is my intention to use this blog to find my mother. I have searched ”Irish Births” on Ancestry.com  and  if her name was Anastasia O’Leary, there are  only five possible mothers, all of whom were born in the Wicklow / Wexford area. Four were registered in Enniscorthy and one was in Gorey.

https://123olearyblog.wordpress.com/ 

Survivors of abuse 'left' out in cold' by deadlock

A survivor of institutional abuse has expressed her fears that the collapse of Stormont could leave victims without any form of compensation.
Margaret McGuckin, who helped set up the Survivors and Victims of Institutional Abuse group (SAVIA), was instrumental in securing the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry headed by Sir Anthony Hart.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/survivors-of-abuse-left-out-in-cold-by-deadlock-35363631.html 

240 apartment plan for former Good Shepherd Convent site

RESIDENTS in Sunday’s Well and Blarney Street have welcomed moves to redevelop the vacant Good Shepherd Convent site, but have raised concerns about future traffic increases.
Moneda Developments, a Dundalk-based firm, purchased the 3.14-hectare site in Sunday’s Well late last year.  They plan to build up to 240 high-end apartments on the former convent site, which has been idle for some 20 years.

http://www.eveningecho.ie/cork-news/240-apartment-plan-former-good-shepherd-convent-site/2607561/ 

Breakdown: The 10 most valuable properties the Catholic Church handed over after Ryan Report

RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS STILL owe almost €15 million towards a fund set up to help people who experienced abuse in Irish institutions.
Caranua is an independent state body which was set up in 2012 to administer the €110 million special investment account opened by the National Treasury Management Agency to help survivors.

http://www.thejournal.ie/catholic-church-properties-cash-redress-scheme-3094040-Dec2016/?utm_source=shortlink

Paying tribute to Mary Raftery - Irish journalist who exposed child abuse in Ireland

Today marks five years since Irish journalist, filmmaker, and writer Mary Raftery died of ovarian cancer, aged 54. Nominated in 2011 for "NNI National Journalist of the Year" for her work in exposing the clerical abuse of children in Ireland, Raftery was regarded as one of the country's finest investigative journalists exposing not only clerical abuse but abuse in the Irish childcare system and the appalling conditions within the country's psychiatric units. 

Raftery famously made the 1999 documentary “States of Fear” and the “Cardinal Secrets” in 2002 and her work was widely viewed as having led to the establishment of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse. The Commission reported its findings in May of 2009.

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/community/archbishop-martin-pays-tribute-to-irish-journalist-who-exposed-child-abuse-in-ireland-videos-137198173-237746131 

Sold to the highest bidder' - how Ireland's institutions allowed Americans to adopt Irish children in the 1950s

For me this is very close to my heart... it hurts so much each time I see or hear about the stolen babies of the catholic church home and orphanages worldwide... no one thinks about the babies who lost their mothers... their blood family... I have always and will keep telling about the stolen babies... the pain of a child stolen from her mother... is the worst pain of all... you watch the other girls around you each Sunday... when they come back from their day with their mothers... and you feel more than your pain... you feel and see the helplessness of the other girls... as their things are ripped from their hands that their mothers gave them... torn from them by the nuns,,, which the children never saw again... the nuns sold them in their shops...
you know that no one wants you... because the nuns have your life mapped out for you... to be their unpaid slave... never to know love or have some one to go to for help... you are no bodies child... you see and hear by the nuns actions... that they hate you... all because of your birth... and that you are the devils daughter... which the nuns make sure that you know each and every day about... their hatred is beaten into you... and you can do or say nothing... my mother was raped... and i had suffered every day and night because or it... it was NO FAULT of her or mine... but the nuns never once forgot to scream into my face... that they had to punished me to get the sins of my mother out of me... as well as my own sins... feel the pain of the stolen babies... taken from their mother's arms... I am one of them... and I have never got over it...  Ann

===================================

THE DUBIOUS NATURE of the process surrounding the adoption of Irish children by American citizens in the 1950s has come to light with the publication of foreign policy papers dating from that decade.
The documents, which range from summaries of meetings to communiqués between civil servants to briefing notes for ministers, show a bureaucratic system that was entirely hands off and saw the adoption of Irish children born outside of marriage by foreign citizens as a fundamental ‘good’.

http://www.thejournal.ie/us-adoptions-ireland-1950s-royal-irish-academy-3150953-Jan2017/

Much more than an act of vandalism' - Art designed to remember Mother and Baby centres goes up in flames

An art installation which was designed to remember Ireland's Mother and Baby Centres went up in flames in Dublin's Temple Bar this afternoon.The fire was located on the corner of Essex and Exchange Street near the Smock Alley Theatre.

A nearby premises, that wishes not to named, confirmed that the exhibition was alight until around 5:30pm, at which time it was extinguinshed.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/much-more-than-an-act-of-vandalism-art-designed-to-remember-mother-and-baby-centres-goes-up-in-flames-35350462.html 

Historical child sex abuse inquiry team passes final report to Stormont

An inquiry team that investigated historical child abuse at Northern Ireland residential homes has passed its final report to Stormont's leaders.
The Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry heard harrowing testimony from hundreds of former residents who made claims of sexual, physical and emotional suffering over many decades in church, state and charity-run homes.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/historical-child-sex-abuse-inquiry-team-passes-final-report-to-stormont-35347461.html 

Abuse victims worry about 'being locked in cupboards', 'not being loved' if returned to care

and it is the same for all of us... the fear of being treated... and locked in the broom cupboard... is always on my mind... and things like that do happen... my friend Frances was sent into a home... she full out of bed... and was left there until morning... all that they did for her... was put a blanket over her... she was unconscious and they did nothing about that as well... there was no nurses in the home... and if that is the way they treat older folk... I will never go into one...  Ann

 ==============================

The thought of swapping a modest life in a caravan park for a nursing home fills Ellen Bucello with dread. "I couldn't cope with it," she said.
The 65-year-old who lives on the New South Wales Central Coast feels supported by her neighbours, many of them ageing too, and she enjoys her independence. But spinal problems and worsening arthritis mean she could soon have to leave her mobile home.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-12/ageing-care-leavers-fear-return-to-institutionalisation/8106608 

£300m... what it could cost to compensate ex-residents of Northern Ireland residential homes

Compensating everybody who spent time in a residential home in Northern Ireland run by or on behalf of the state could cost £300m, a lawyer who specialises in abuse cases has suggested.
Sir Anthony Hart is drawing up his report for ministers following two-and-a-half years of Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) inquiry hearings involving abuse victims and institutions.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/300m-what-it-could-cost-to-compensate-exresidents-of-northern-ireland-residential-homes-35177494.html