A scandal has shaken Ireland since the publication on Tuesday of a report produced by the Commission of Inquiry into the "mother and baby houses".
It reports the deaths of 9,000 children between 1922 and 1998 in these former establishments run by the Catholic Church, welcoming single mothers.
On behalf of the state, Prime Minister Michael Martin apologized Wednesday, January 13 for "
letting them down
".
“
I apologize for the profound harm done to Irish mothers and their children who have ended up
” in these homes, Michael Martin told the Irish Parliament.
The head of government felt that the state had "
let them down
" at a time when births outside marriage were considered illegitimate.
"
All these women suffered from serious discrimination
".
Aged 12 to 40 years, those "
who gave birth out of wedlock were subjected to particularly severe treatment
" is it written in the report of the commission.
"
We adopted perverse morals and religious control, judgment and moral certainty, but we rejected our daughters
"Continued the Prime Minister,"
we honored piety, but we failed to show the most basic kindness to those who needed it most
.
Carmel Larkin, Walter Francis and PJ Harvey, survivors of the Mother House and Bon Secours baby, pose in a shrine erected in memory of 800 children of the Tuam mass grave in Ireland.
PAUL FAITH / AFP
The commission of inquiry explains that these religious homes were the only shelters at the time for single mothers and children born out of wedlock.
The women accommodated in these establishments had a life "
shattered by a pregnancy outside marriage and by the reactions of the father, the family and the community at large
" explains the report.
At the time, society treated these little girls and boys born out of wedlock as "
outcasts
" in the words of Michael Martin.
After five years of investigation, the commission reveals the deaths of 9,000 of the 57,000 children spent in Mother and Baby homes over the 76 years studied - or 15%.
The mortality rate for children born out of wedlock was almost twice as high in these establishments than outside, the prime minister said.
Investigation opened after the discovery of a mass grave
In 1975, children discovered a mass grave in the village of Tuam where there was a former home for single mothers run by the sisters of the Bon Secours congregation between 1925 and 1961. A story that received little media attention but which interested the local historian, Catherine Corless.
She looks into the matter and the remains of 796 children from the orphanage are identified.
The commission of inquiry on homes for single mothers was then set up in 2014.
Catherine Corless in front of the Prime Minister's speech in the Irish Parliament.
CLODAGH KILCOYNE / REUTERS
The final report of the investigation now allows us to understand the living conditions in these religious homes, the customs of the time by delivering testimonies.
"
A nun told me, 'God doesn't want you ... you're dirty,'
" said a victim quoted in the 3,000-page report.
The Primate of Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin, also issued an “
unqualified
” apology
.
“
I recognize that the Church was clearly part of this culture in which people were frequently stigmatized, judged and rejected,
” he said Tuesday evening.
A culture as discriminating as it is violent since many women refugees in these establishments have "
suffered rape and / or incest
" underlined the Irish Prime Minister.
The "
lack of sex education has left young women in the dark even as to how and why they got pregnant,
" the commission reports.
During 1945-1946, the infant mortality rate in Ireland in maternal and child homes "
was almost double the national average for 'illegitimate' children
," one of the "
most disturbing characteristics of these institutions
”.
The survey highlights the desire to "
reduce the chances of survival
" of children: "
more than 40% of 'illegitimate' children died before their first birthday in the house of mothers and babies,
" it is stressed.
Victims of several diseases, seven vaccine trials were conducted on residents under unethical conditions in these homes between 1934 and 1973.