Definition of ‘Befuddled’ – A verb meaning; unable to think clearly; stupefied; baffled; jumbled; muddled; perplexed or puzzled.
Ireland, once the home of Saints and Scholars, is truly impressive when it comes to dredging up its unsavoury past; same initially caused by insufficient funding by, firstly England and more recently, with the foundation of the State, Irish Governments, resulting in children in residential homes being severely malnourished.
The ‘Mother & Baby Homes Commission of Investigation’ began a geophysical survey on the site of a children’s burial ground at the former Sean Ross Abbey Mother & Baby Home south of Roscrea town in Co. Tipperary this week.
According to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Ms Katherine Zappone, this geophysical survey is expected to last for one or possibly more days. Minister Zappone also confirmed that the Cabinet has granted a further one-year extension to this investigating Commission, before it will publish its final report; latter which will now NOT be due until February 2020, five years after this Commission was first established back in February 2015.
Now, here is where residents of Ireland’s ‘green and pleasant land’ become ‘Befuddled’. Allow me to explain.
The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution Act of 1983 clearly amended the Constitution of Ireland by inserting a subsection, same recognising the equal right to life of a pregnant woman and her unborn child. Previously abortion had been subject to a criminal penalty in Ireland since 1861, and now a new Amendment would be signed into law on October 7th 1983.
Some 35 years later; on May 25th 2018 last, a referendum was passed to remove this constitutional ban on abortion, and after an unsuccessful legal challenge; same became signed into law on September 18th 2018. Today residents in this State can be severely prosecuted for animal cruelty, but no current law exists, whatsoever, with regards to the cruelty to which unborn humans in the womb can be subjected.
So, my question is this; why are we in 2019 dredging up and investigating, for over five years, 18 residential homes, to dig up bodies of deceased babies? Ireland has already agreed that abortion is to become the new contraceptive for Irish men and women, to be paid for by the Irish taxpayer, and baby’s, either dead or alive in the womb, are no longer important in a greedy, materialistic and money-oriented society. Same decree was supported by various Irish politicians, including Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Ms Katherine Zappone.
This dawdled and to my mind, now unnecessary final report, is expected to include details of multiple lines of inquiry relating to different institutions over a period of more than three quarters of a century and will include extensive technical reports prepared in the course of geophysical survey work on the site in Tuam, Co. Galway and burial arrangements at other major institutions. Despite this requested one-year extension, the Commission is still expected to report on the key issue of burial arrangements at all major institutions, by March 15th of this year.
Over one year ago, this same Mother & Baby Homes Commission, stated it could not comprehend how residents of the Bethany Home, had been excluded from the State’s 2002 redress scheme. However, the Irish Government has stated that it could not make a decision on compensating this same, now gradually fading quantity of once Bethany residents, until the commission had delivered its final report on all 18 homes, now under the spotlight.
Bethany Home survivors, (Latter establishment a Protestant religious residential home in Dublin for women who were convicted of petty theft, prostitution, infanticide, as well as for women who were pregnant while outside the bounds of wedlock, and, of course, for those children born to these same unfortunate women). However, Bethany Home survivors understandably allege that they have / are being discriminated against on religious grounds, from the point of view of compensation already handed out to others of the Roman Catholic faith; a charge nevertheless rejected by this present Fine Gael minority government; which have not clearly and adequately explained their justification.
As our government continues to dredge up our unsavoury past, the number of homeless children currently in some parts of the country, in the past year, has more than doubled; continuing to increase with the latest homeless figures indicating some 4,000 children and more than 10,000 persons in all.
Two questions: (1) In 50 to 70 year’s time will an Irish government be reviewing and compensating the present generation of homeless children and surviving family members?
(2) When the cost of the ‘Mother & Baby Homes Commission of Investigation’ is finally totted up, how many houses for the homeless could have been built using this same spend?
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