'Make sure they repeal the seal': mother and daughter vow to continue fight to ensure survivors have access to personal information

A protest to put pressure on the government to ensure survivors have access to Mother and Baby Home archives is taking place in Cork city today.

The protest was set up prior to the government’s announcement on Wednesday, which stated that survivors will have the opportunity to access the findings from the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes.

The protest originally aimed to put pressure on the government to “repeal the seal” on the archives after concerns were raised over the passing of legislation in the Dáil last week.

Ciara Gannon, who organized the protest with her mother before the latest announcement, said that it was still necessary despite the government's promise to allow survivors to access the information compiled in the report.

“The announcement was made, but it was made on the back of the power of petitions. 

"That wouldn’t have been made if it wasn’t for public outcry and its really important to keep the momentum going and just change the protest from ‘repeal the seal’, to ‘make sure that the seal is repealed,’ just to keep the pressure on government to keep that decision,” she said.

Ciara’s mother was born in a Mother and Baby Home and the family remain uncertain about whether she can access her personal information in line with data protection legislation.

“There’s a lot of legal issues that might over-step some other people’s information. So, there is a lot of uncertainty about what this means for survivors and to what extent.” The protest will go ahead under its new name to ‘make sure we really appeal the seal’.

“I think it’s really important to keep protesting and to make sure we do this right and it was people power that brought them there in the first place so it’s just to reinforce that and keep that going,” added Ms Gannon.