ONE of the longest running newspaper investigations I have ever carried out was one involving a Co Tyrone puppy farmer who was selling hundreds of sick and dying dogs to animal lovers across Ireland. Co Tyrone woman Wilma Little posed under so many aliases, used so many phone numbers and managed to meet ‘customers’ inContinue reading “Don’t fund cruelty this Christmas”
Tag Archives: Ireland
Irish nuns sold ‘dead’ babies to America
By Patricia Devlin A SHELVED report which revealed concerns nuns falsified the deaths of babies before selling them to parents in the USA was seen by two Ministers, a former HSE chief has claimed. Former Children and Family Services assistant director Phil Garland says the explosive 2012 report was passed to then Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald and HealthContinue reading “Irish nuns sold ‘dead’ babies to America”
‘Brainwashed into believing our mother abandoned us for 18 years’
LAST month I got speaking to two very brave brothers who decided to share their desperately sad story of how their father brainwashed them against their own mother. JP and Brendan Byrne, both from Dublin, are the only authors in Ireland (that I am aware of) who have tackled parental alienation in this way. Their storyContinue reading “‘Brainwashed into believing our mother abandoned us for 18 years’”
‘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 most shocked at the tactics used by some’pro-life’ campaigners. Following this month’s High Court case involving one activist challenging a harassment notice served on her by the PSNI, I thought I’dContinue reading “‘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 was the victim of an Irish paedophile ring – which included her grandfather, dad and uncles. Today Anne, not her real name, speaks about the endless years ofContinue reading “Abused, raped and forced to give birth at 12 years-old”
‘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 pregnant I’d have a ball for about a month and then come home,” said Terri. “If I was then to hell with everyone else, I wasn’t coming back.” WithinContinue reading “‘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 man who was born in the notorious St Patrick’s facility on the Navan Road. The 58 year-old’s story is incredibly heartbreaking. Set aside the abuse he suffered from the very dayContinue reading “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 1970’s Irish care system were as fortunate to be with their mothers. “To be beside her when she was dying and to hold her hand…I was very luckyContinue reading “Branded a fallen woman, but Mary was just another victim of Catholic Ireland”
Patricia Devlin 