Viewers of RTE Investigates on Wednesday night were left appalled after learning of how some people were illegally adopted in Ireland.
The investigative programme once again looked at the historic practice of illegal adoptions here, revealing how 12 months on from its initial documentary, many adoptees are still searching for answers and struggling to discover their true identities.
In March last year, RTE Investigates documentary told the story of some of the thousands of children who were illegally adopted in Ireland – innocent babies who were registered at birth as if they were the biological children of the parents who raised them.
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Wednesday's programme featured moving accounts from some adoptees who were desperately seeking to find out who they are.
One such person was Brian Webster from Co Tipperary who recounted how he was told two hours after his birth mother's funeral that she had passed away.
He said: "The worst part of reading RIP.ie was that she was buried at twelve o’clock that day.
"I was called two and half hours after she had been laid to rest to tell me that she was gone – she had died two days previously to that. So even the opportunity of even looking in on Zoom at her funeral that was taken away from me as well."
Another person, Brenda Lynch, was told out of the blue in January 2020 that she had been illegally adopted, and in her case, there is no paper trail.
Professor Conor O'Mahony, the State's Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, also spoke to the programme, and said there needs to be "some urgency" by the State when it comes to illegal birth registrations.
Viewers watching the programme at home described the stories as heartbreaking, with others furious about how people who were illegally adopted have been treated.
One person said: "You can’t reverse history but you can lessen the pain if it’s within your power. And these people are in real pain. Heartbreaking #rteinvestigates."
A second wrote: "On the night before our National Holiday, after watching this, I'm not feeling very patriotic at this moment in time #rteinvestigates."
A third said: "I have to say as I get older & learn more about the wrongs of #Ireland I'm becoming less proud to be Irish & celebrate it,I'm very sad to say."
A fourth commented: "What a poignant programme @aoifehegs and Isabel Perceval have made for #rteinvestigates on illegal adoptions.
"I am thinking of all those who have participated in this programme and who are affected by it. The State has a case to answer and it can take action now if it chooses."
Another person said: "This is heartbreak and the cruelty of denying people information about their identity is hard to understand. No respect shown to people who were adopted #RTEInvestigates #IllegalAdoptions."
Someone else stated: "Celebrating Irishness is bittersweet when your country of birth continues to deny your right to identity and belonging.
"Thinking of the tens of thousands of my fellow Irish adoptees at home and around the world tonight, still searching for light in the dark #rteinvestigates."
While another viewer said: "Watching #rteinvestigates and feeling gutted for those whose sense of identity has been smashed to bits by Ireland’s illegal adoptions."
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