It has been a criminal offence in Ireland since 1874 to falsely register a child as having been born to his or her adoptive parents. And it is firmly established, under the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, that everyone has a right to have the details of their birth accurately recorded. What is legally impermissible is also morally wrong: to mislead someone as to their origins is to deny them a core part of their identity and to set them up for considerable trauma if and when they find out the truth.
Yet this illegal and unconscionable act of false registration has occurred to a significant if still officially uncounted number of Irish people. And for decades, according to an incisive new report by Prof Conor O’Mahony, the special rapporteur for children protection, the State knew about it and did almost nothing to investigate it, still less to deal with the fallout. UN human rights bodies have long called for a full investigation into illegal adoptions in Ireland but none has occurred.
In his report, Prof O’Mahony concludes that the State was aware of the practice since the early 1950s but that the authorities “consciously turned a blind eye” to it. Even in recent decades, there was little will to inquire into the issue and mitigate its effects. The “ad hoc, piecemeal and delayed reaction” of various official bodies meant the State was in breach of its legal obligations and worsened the impact on those affected. Many of the parents and even children affected have died without ever finding out about this violation of their rights. Many of those who are still alive are old or in ill-health; for them too it may be too late to rebuild their identity or make contact with family members.
The State still does not know how extensive this illegal practice was. Some have called for an inquiry that would systematically examine all 150,000 files available, arguing that that is the only way of arriving at a total figure. However, Prof O’Mahony argues that the timescale involved in such an exercise, in addition to other obstacles, would conflict with the goal of informing as many people as possible and doing so while they still have time to re-establish contact. He favours a more “targeted and focused” approach. And rather than a commission of investigation, a type of inquiry that has proven slow, legalistic and over-cautious, he recommends a non-statutory truth commission.
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In a statement that broadly concurred with Prof O’Mahony’s conclusions, the Government did not commit to such a commission though it said those affected would be compensated (a paltry €3,000 each, and only for those whose files were falsified by St Patrick’s Guild) and that an apology would issue to them. That’s the least they should receive. Seventy years after the State learned about this illegal practice, the search for justice continues.