Anne Ferris (Wicklow, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Ms Carole Brennan, Ms Evon Brennan and Ms Rosemary Adaser. I met them earlier in the summer when we had a good chat about the difficulties experienced by members of Mixed Race Irish. As an adopted person, I am acutely aware of the problems, traumas and identity issues experienced by people who were adopted. I have spoken to many people in my situation, as well as those who were sent to orphanages and mother and baby homes. I have listened to a lot of stories. The delegates and the people they represent have suffered an extra layer of discrimination on top of what others suffered in these homes.

I was reared in Crumlin in Dublin, which was also the place where a person who went on to become famous grew up. That person was the singer Phil Lynott who was quite vocal about the discrimination he had suffered in school and how he had never really been accepted until he became a celebrity. Suddenly, once fame came, everybody was cool with him. Listening to Ms Brennan's testimony, I can identify with a great deal of what she said. However, the specific suffering of mixed race Irish children is another element of the whole issue that has not been examined heretofore and which should be included in any and all investigations into what happened in orphanages and mother and baby homes in the State. When I spoke in the Dáil in July during the debate on the establishment of a commission of investigation into mother and baby homes, I mentioned Mixed Race Irish and the plight of the people it represented.

I know the answers to the questions I am about to ask, but I would like to put them, as well as outline the delegates' responses. My first question is why they are bringing this issue to the attention of the committee at this time. Second, how have they managed to overcome their tragic histories?