ALLEGATIONS that children from a Wicklow home were used for unpaid labour in Northern Ireland should be investigated by an ongoing inquiry into historical institutional child abuse, Northern Minister and MLA Danny Kennedy has said.
In a letter dated April 27th, Mr Kennedy wrote to the office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister stating the Westbank Home in Greystones, Co Wicklow, should be included in any investigations carried out under the remit of the Northern Ireland Executive inquiry into historical institutional abuse, established last year.
“There is a clear need to fully investigate the issues of concern prevalent in respect of this institution, including reports of children suffering a combination of physical and sexual abuse,” he wrote.
“It would also appear there were unregulated movements of children back and forth over the Border which resulted in them being exploited as unpaid labour in Northern Ireland,” he added.
“I have been advised that a practice of unregulated fostering arrangements which resulted in children being sent to families in Northern Ireland emanated from activities carried out at Westbank Home and, whilst it has not been determined if any relevant statutory body or institution in either the Irish Republic or Northern Ireland was aware of these illegal movements or ‘fostering’ of children, it is . . . apparent that these matters require full and thorough investigation.
“I believe it is necessary for the Westbank Home institution to be included as part of the investigations currently being undertaken by the inquiry authorised by the Northern Ireland Executive,” he said.
Mr Kennedy is the North’s Minister for Regional Development. However, his office underlined that the letter was sent in his role as an MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly) and not in a ministerial capacity.
Westbank, a privately run orphanage for Protestant children, was run by Adeline Mathers from 1946 to 1999 and was the subject of an RTÉ Would You Believe programme last year.
The programme included allegations from a former resident at the home, Colm Begley. He claimed he was regularly beaten, frequently went hungry and was injected as a punishment and “treatment” for wetting the bed.
However, one woman interviewed for the programme, Dorothy McKeown, who went to the home at the age of two, said her memories were positive. “My childhood was normal.
“I always remember auntie telling us we weren’t orphans, because she was our mum and God was our father.”
Another former resident, Sidney Herdman, made a statement at Greystones Garda station, after the documentary aired in June last year, relating to illegal adoption and the movement of children over the Border.
The Northern Ireland Executive announced the establishment of an inquiry into historical institutional child abuse in September last year.