Media Release
Open Letter to Taoiseach by Laura Murphy,
Daughter of Mother & Baby Home Survivor, March 2023
Laura Murphy, the daughter of a courageous Mother and Baby Home survivor, has written an open letter to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar concerning the exclusion of 24,000 survivors from the Mother and Baby Home Redress Scheme and his recent claim that this money 'could otherwise be spent meeting the needs of today or trying to build a better future.’
In the letter she states that the government is placing “the full burden of responsibility on the Irish taxpayer for harm that was perpetrated by Church and State. As a result, 40% of survivors are being retraumatised and excluded from the very scheme that was set up to ensure ‘survivor-led Restorative Recognition and Reparation.”
In 2021, she first appealed to Taoiseach Micheál Martin to retract the part of the State apology that blamed society for the Mother and Baby Home atrocities. She also called for Brigid’s Day to be made a public holiday. The letter was covered across national media and the proposals put forward received widespread support across communities in Ireland and internationally. She was invited to read the letter publicly at the Abbey Theatre’s critically acclaimed ‘HOME: Part One’, a historic production that gave voice to survivors at a time when their stories were being suppressed.
Now, Laura tells her personal story outlining the intergenerational trauma she and her mother have suffered in their shared experience as testimony of the impact of past trauma on the lives of many survivors and their families today. She outlines further the psychological, physiological, neuro-biological and emotional impact of unresolved trauma on the lives of survivors and society at large. She emphasizes that the proposed redress scheme is a perpetuation of past harms, describing how the two specific groups of survivors who are currently being excluded “have not only been significantly harmed, they have experienced violations of their constitutional and human rights.”
Laura states:
“I wrote this letter to counter, on public record, the continued dismissal and delegitimization by government of the crimes against humanity that continue to be perpetrated on Mother and Baby Home survivors. The government has one last chance to do right by survivors and the people of Ireland. Gone are the days of brushing trauma, mass abuse and genocide under the carpet. The government must move from a space of re-traumatization to reparation, abdication to accountability and injustice to justice. Ultimately, I am appealing to the humanity of our Taoiseach Leo Varadkar who can in turn initiate the healing of our nation.”
She calls on the Taoiseach to
Ensure that all Mother and Baby Home survivors receive the ‘Restorative Recognition and Reparation’ that is rightfully theirs. This includes redress for all survivors and a State apology to those who were boarded out.
Ensure that the Catholic Church contributes to redress and is brought into a meaningful process of truth, reconciliation and reparation.
Impose trading sanctions on GlaxoSmithKline for their refusal to contribute to reparations for the illegal vaccine and infant milk trials carried out on children.
For this campaign Laura is partnering with Kathy Scott, founder of The Trailblazery {We Need to Talk about Ireland, Census of the Heart, The Freedom Project} to raise awareness of the cumulative effects of unresolved trauma and to demonstrate how trauma-informed leadership has the potential to revolutionize how our world works.
Kathy Scott adds:
“This is a huge moment of reckoning for Ireland and provides an opportunity for us to be one of the first countries to take a stance and do the right thing for our citizens past, present and future. Unresolved trauma is a hidden epidemic and a public health concern in Ireland and globally. Just as trauma is a cyclical process, so too are the perpetual rounds of inquiries, commissions and reports that have cost the Irish taxpayer an estimated €1.5 billion over the past 22 years.
The ability to respond (response-ability) and heal trauma is possible. Not only is recovery available but so is the human capacity for post traumatic growth. Only when there is an acceptance of the fact that trauma is at the root of almost every major issue in Irish society today, will we be in a position to adequately respond to them. This is the time to commit to ending the cycle of trauma and step into a process of post-traumatic growth, together.”
Murphy and Scott
Are calling on Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar to commit to a process of trauma-informed leadership and policy making as a matter of urgency to effect change from the top down. This will go a long way to addressing the symptoms of trauma that disrupt individual and collective wellbeing and impact our families, communities, and cultures.
Are calling on the Minister for Justice Simon Harris, Minister for Education Norma Foley, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly as well as Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Roderic O’Gorman to commit to a process of trauma-informed leadership across their departments.
Aim to work closely with local and national politicians including members of the Seanad to provide the necessary tools and resources to support an evidence-based practice of trauma informed care across government decision making. Their mission is to help end the vicious cycle of intergenerational trauma and create a trauma-informed toolkit for leaders that will have positive effects for past, present and future generations. This will position Ireland as a nation who demonstrates to the world the power of choosing post-traumatic growth over post-traumatic stress.
“We believe that if the people making decisions on the Mother and Baby Redress Bill had been trauma informed, we would now be in a process of reparation instead of re-traumatisation. We are inviting you to observe and participate in this process so that it may inspire and initiate a new modus operandi for the government; one that puts understanding of trauma, compassion and the wellbeing of its citizens at the heart of everything”
About Trauma Informed Leadership
Trauma responses are a normal reaction to an abnormal situation.
We aim to collaborate with global field specialists to create a trauma-informed toolkit that can inspire, engage and equip decision making and problem solving across departments, services, sectors and settings. We will also engage with an expert panel and include people with lived experience throughout this consultation process.
Trauma-informed leadership recognizes how trauma impacts our lives. A trauma informed framework acknowledges how trauma affects our wellbeing, and that of our families, communities and cultures. Viewing the world through a trauma-informed lens changes the way we view human development. It helps us to understand how people navigate life challenges, and how we best support each other for learning, healing and growth. Viewing others with more compassion and empathy, allows for the baseline of safety needed for a healthy society, inside and out.
About Laura Murphy and Kathy Scott
Laura Murphy is a poet, activist, and communications strategist. She is the daughter of a Mother and Baby Home survivor and an outspoken advocate for survivors. Laura’s work has been featured in the critically acclaimed production ‘Home: Part One’ by the Abbey Theatre, RTÉ’s documentary ‘Finding Brigid’, Herstory Light Shows and in the campaign to make Brigid’s Day a national holiday. Laura’s work is centered around the ancient Irish poetic practice of ‘Imbas Forosnai’. Imbas Forosnai means ‘inspiration that illuminates’. It was used by the filí (Ireland’s seer-poets) to bring truth to power and healing to society. Laura is Herstory’s inaugural poet in residence.
Kathy Scott is a cultural activist and creative entrepreneur dedicated to creating provocative experiences that animate the spirit of our times. Founder of The Trailblazery, her greatest mission in this life is to nudge humanity forward by inspiring people to rise and lift each other up along the way. She has trained with Thomas Hübl at The Pocket Project – a global movement dedicated to deepening our understanding and integration of collective and intergenerational trauma. She is currently studying with Dr. Gabor Maté in the field of Compassionate Inquiry and has a proven track record in designing and delivering global educational programmes that are trauma informed and sensitive.
For further media enquiries please contact Jenny Sharif - jennysharif@gmail.com