Una Mullally: Mother and baby home issue shows Government disconnect from public sentiment
People don’t want legislation papering over gaps on such matters
Roderic O’Gorman: his inability to shout ‘stop’ as the situation was spiralling out of control shows the Government is getting lost in the paperwork and missing the context. Photograph: Gareth Chaney/ Collins
The furious reaction to legislation being passed concerning the database of information relating to the Mother and Baby Homes commission is a righteous one. It also demonstrates, once again, how disconnected this Government and its parties are from public sentiment, and the collective aspirations and desires of a nation to not just “move beyond” a torrid, cruel, misogynistic and, in many cases, criminal history, but to confront it, and process it.
The only way to do that is to tell the truth, all of the truths – and to face them, no matter how difficult. Politicians may constantly look for an easy way out, but people in Ireland don’t.