Survivors of the #BethanyHome
The struggle for justice continues

Dear Friends of Survivors of the Bethany Home

Many of you have already supported letters which we have written to various politicians seeking justice for survivors of the Bethany Home. This justice has not been forthcoming and the struggle continues. On April 2nd NWCI attended the unveiling of a memorial at Mount Jerome Cemetery in memory of the 221 babies and children who died at the Home. Survivors repeated calls for justice and redress for the suffering and abuse inflicted upon them in the home have continued to fall on deaf ears.

I am asking for your consent to have your/your organisations name attached to the letter below which will be sent to the media next week.

Please email racheld@nwci.ie no later than 5pm next Tuesday June 3rd
to indicate your/your organisations support (please also indicate how you wish to be signed – name/title etc.)


Dear Editor,
15 years after Mary Rafterys renowned work on the States of Fear documentary, the survivors of the Protestant run Bethany Home Rathgar Dublin still await recognition of the abuse, trauma and suffering inflicted upon them at the Home. They await; an apology from the state for it’s failure to protect them as children, clear access to their records and an appropriate redress scheme. Operating from 1922 – 1972, the Bethany Home was a maternity home, a children’s home (for children up to 3 and a half years), and a place of detention for women who were convicted of crimes from petty theft to infanticide. Abuse, neglect, forced adoptions and suffering were every day occurrences at the Home and On April 2nd this year a memorial to the 221 babies and children who died there was unveiled at Mount Jerome Cemetery.
We the undersigned are writing to you to express our deep concern at the situation of the survivors of the Bethany Home whose suffering is deepened by the States on going refusal to vindicate their rights. We call on the Taoiseach and the Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald to ensure, as a matter of urgency, that justice is served to the survivors of the Bethany Home and that the state affords them the peace and security that they deserve in these, their older years. We call on them to provide survivors with a process of non-adversarial redress and to provide assistance to them in their attempts to access to their records.

Yours sincerely,



Rachel Doyle
Head of Development and Outreach
National Women’s Council of Ireland
4th Floor
2-3 Parnell square East
Dublin 1

Tel: 01 – 8787248 / 087 – 2998619
Email: racheld@nwci.ie
www.nwci.ie

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