Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief. We have a lot of work ahead of us this afternoon. I will follow on from Senator Higgins's point, especially in respect of amendments Nos. 56 and 57. In the context of all this, we have to remember there is perhaps not as much information held as we might like to think or wish for.

I will share some experiences. As I said to the Minister the other day, I am one of seven children, all from the same mother and father. I can tell him I have been on this road, as have others. It is important we do not assume there is a lot of information. The offices of many institutions were separate from their residential quarters. They protected themselves, in many ways. There were constant changes in staff and trustees, who were good and well-meaning people, but many of them thought it was easier to destroy documents. People told me over the years it was a terrible situation for that particular man or woman, whatever the circumstances were, and it was better to throw the information in the bin and let them get on with their lives, as we all have to get on with our lives. I do not necessarily agree with that but it was said many times. Many institutions were run by religious organisations, but there were also ones that were non-religious. The institution I grew up in was wholly and exclusively run by the Church of Ireland. It is not all about the Catholic Church. It was part of the culture at that time that so many documents were destroyed, and we cannot presume there is as much detail in some as others. That is important.

In many cases, our mothers and fathers made decisions, for whatever reason, because they carried a certain shame and guilt. I remember my mother when she was very elderly - I had a great relationship with my parents in the end and I am the youngest of seven - asking me a question not long before she died when she was sick in Tallaght hospital. She asked me if I had ever got the information I was looking for. I looked at the woman and thought, "You don't need to know that. It would be unfair to revisit it." It was empowering in itself for me to say this woman in her 90s does not need to know. What struck me, however, was that she carried that throughout her entire life, even though she lived into her 90s. She was somewhat relieved when I turned around and said I had seen and got all my correspondence, and it was an amazing discovery, but many things were missing too. I remember thinking about her absolute relief. Dare I say, in a way that was a gift from me in that I felt I had the right to say that to her and I said "No". I knew then that it was not too late, but it was not necessary. We had all moved on and we had all come to understand. Different sets of circumstances played for each and every one of us. I just wanted to make that point. Somehow, I thought it strange a woman in her 90s could think that all along. The fact she thought that was interesting, as was her anxiety. I wanted to share that emotional connection.

However, it is also important that people know. We talked the other day about identity but it is also about belonging. Who am I? Who are you? We all ask these questions. Some things do not make up. Every family has a story to tell. Many a family took in their cousin's daughter or niece, who became sisters, brothers and part of the extended family. One of the good things about Ireland, and we had many bad problems and hid a lot of issues, was that families were families. Blood was thicker than water and they rallied around. It relates to that description of many families being tribal in terms of their heritage and protecting one another, for many reasons, not all of which are right and good.

I will return to what Senator Higgins said. It is also important because I know of many cases, on journeys where I have taken people and assisted them in accessing information, where they discovered an aunt who did not marry, took a great interest in them and secretly visited them in an institution. It should be remembered that children lived in care right up to the 1970s. In 1961, I went from a mother and baby home to an institution in which I lived until I was 16. I was not adopted and was not living at home. I was in State care but there were not ten or 20 of us; there were 40 and 50 people. Five of these institutions were in Dún Laoghaire alone. That is how big it was. It was a huge organisation. There were many in the State who held back parents and would not let them in the door. Remember, the State had a role. There were many parents who denied to their families these children were in care. That was the other side of the story, which is important.

I remember speaking to a fella from a little farm in west Cork. He was a single person. It is much harder when someone is single - it is different when there are six or seven siblings - and many years after a long discovery, he got information. This is very important to the point I am making. Fifteen birthday cards that had never been opened were in the file. They had never been given to him or to the institution but were in the headquarters of the institution. There were some handwritten letters from his mother in the file written on pages that had been torn out of a jotter, a schoolbook she might have bought, and sent in secret to institutions. She sent €5 every year, knitted a jumper every year and said - I will not mention the man's name - "I hope you like the jumper. Boys like blue and green." I thought how real and vivid that was. She wanted to keep the connection. She did not give consent for him to be adopted. She wrote to the adoption society and other people to say maybe she would meet a fella and maybe she would get her son back. We can understand that. No two cases are alike, which is important. When he saw his file, he was angry initially but he said he knew his mother cared for him because she sent birthday cards, she wrote and she gave a little donation, even though she did not have a lot of money, she was not working and she did not have the support of her family. The treasure of knowing that a woman, his mother, never denied him, spoke about taking him back if circumstances changed, sent the little knitted jumpers and the little birthday cards and did her best, comforted him because he felt that actually she really liked him. As a result of all that, for a few years, because she did not live for many years after that, he got to know her and built a relationship with her.

We cling onto everything because of that sense of belonging. People had brothers, but let us not airbrush uncles, aunts, cousins and people out because sometimes they made an effort to keep in touch. It is reassuring to look back and say this unravels the story and tells someone a little more about it. This is about information. As Senator Higgins rightly said, every opportunity should be given and afforded to people because this is not about identity alone. It is about that belonging and understanding. Someone may never meet this person, but he or she might have a little photograph. I am sure we have seen television programmes such as "Who Do You Think You Are?", and when the interviewer asks, "Would you like to see a photograph of your mother or your father?", they all light up when they see it. What does that tell us? It gives a sense of "She is like me or not like me", but they take that photograph away. It is a prized possession. It is sometimes out of context, but when people have little, they cling onto it. It is their lineage, their heritage and their belonging. That is very important.

I will finish on that point. This Bill and legislation is only about tracing, not about redress or anything else. Let us keep the focus on what it is about. It is about that sense of connection and belonging. Let us go the extra mile to empower people, where at all possible. It is not always right for a mother to say a person cannot have information. I know mothers who said that and years later thought it was great. No, sorry. We talk about child-centred when we talk about young children. We never cease to be children in some ways. We all seek affection, love, affirmation and confirmation. These are bog standard things we all need all of the time throughout all our lives. If we do not, there is something wrong. We should support and err on the side of giving more information. Remember, time is moving on and people are getting older. This is less of a problem in the 1980s and 1990s. There was much more progressiveness around childcare in those later days. I wanted to share that story about clinging on to any sense of connection and belonging. It is also important because I know people have met a brother or sister they never knew they had, or an aunt or cousin, and have said they now realise that a particular aunt came every second week to see them and that meant so much to them. They did not know it then, but they know it now and that is important too.