The release of the Final Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby homes is a damning testimony of what life was like for ostracized unmarried mothers in our country for decades.

By University Observer | Jan 28 2021

These women did nothing wrong. The hardship and horror they were subjected to is deeply shocking. It is nauseating that this cruelty could have been inflicted upon thousands of women, again and again and again, and no one stood up and said stop.

Shame is a disgusting thing to put upon anyone. Shame is what led to the rejection of these women from society, shame is what told us that sex is something dirty, repugnant and sinful, shame is what kept women in these homes, and shame is what kept this secret for so many years. Shame and disgust was placed upon infants, beautiful babies, coming into the world as clean and pure as a snowdrop. The evil that led to the vile treatment of these children is unforgivable. No mother deserves to have her child taken from her. No child is a commodity. No child is a medical ‘test subject’. Even within UCD, a place of education and modernity, these children were seen as worthless, invisible, disposable. 

We at The University Observer stand with all the women and children who passed through those walls of the Mother and Baby homes. The horrors they have endured can not be pardoned. No apology will ever be enough. We just hope that they find some peace. That is the least they deserve.