You’ll notice that unsolved murders will become a theme on this blog, and it won’t be from choice. Sadly there is a shocking number of cases in…… Read more “The unsolved murder of Jim Goonan”
‘I was told that if I’d been raped, I’d get over it – but I’d never get over terminating my pregnancy’
Last year I carried out an investigation into how anti-abortion protesters were confronting women using Belfast’s Marie Stopes Centre. The article received a lot of feedback, with…… Read more “‘I was told that if I’d been raped, I’d get over it – but I’d never get over terminating my pregnancy’”
Abused, raped and forced to give birth at 12 years-old
ABUSED at the age of two, gang raped by eight and giving birth to twins at 12. This is the horrific story of a Dublin woman who…… Read more “Abused, raped and forced to give birth at 12 years-old”
I just want to look my mum’s killer in the eye and ask them,’why?’
LAST week Antoinette Smith should have been celebrating her 56th birthday. Instead her family were marking yet another year that the devoted mum had been cruelly stolen…… Read more “I just want to look my mum’s killer in the eye and ask them,’why?’”
‘I cried out for someone to come and take me away so many times, but no one came to rescue me’
By Patricia Devlin WHEN Margaret McGuckin began a justice campaign for historical abuse victims in the north, she was told: “You can’t take on the church and the state.” Seven years…… Read more “‘I cried out for someone to come and take me away so many times, but no one came to rescue me’”
‘You are holding your baby and you are being told you are a filthy, selfish whore’
WHEN Terri Harrison discovered her period was late in February 1973, she knew she had to leave Catholic Ireland. “The plan was if I discovered I wasn’t…… Read more “‘You are holding your baby and you are being told you are a filthy, selfish whore’”
Child number 1629 – David’s story
By Patricia Devlin This month I spoke to a number of survivors of Ireland’s horrific mother and baby institutions. One of those was David Kinsella, a Dublin…… Read more “Child number 1629 – David’s story”
Branded a fallen woman, but Mary was just another victim of Catholic Ireland
WHEN Francis Timmons held his dying mother’s hand, he felt like the luckiest man on earth. For not many children who survived the horrors of the…… Read more “Branded a fallen woman, but Mary was just another victim of Catholic Ireland”