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A Fianna Fáil TD has accused supporters of opening the Mother and Baby Home records of “fake news” and “exploiting the situation.”
Niall Collins, the Fianna Fáil representative from Limerick, was responding to an email he had received along with area TDs Patrick O’Donovan and Richard O’Donoghue from a Limerick constituent concerned about controversial legislation passed in Dáil la last week.
The email, seen by the Irish Examiner, said that the law “denied people facing abuse and unspeakable trauma the right to their own personal data.”
Collins responded by saying, “The choice we faced last week was to pass the legislation and preserve the information database, which will be available once more legislation is passed in the next few months, or to allow the database to be removed or destroy forever.
“These are the facts. There is a repulsive online campaign where some very nasty people are exploiting this situation and the vulnerabilities of some.”
Please don’t let online trolls and bullies sell your fake news and lies out of control.
“Please don’t let online trolls and bullies sell their fake news and lies out of control.”
The email comes days after Fianna Fáil Sen. Lisa Chambers said the bill had been “politically hijacked” by Sinn Féin, and Sen. Erin McGreehan sent an email to her party colleagues saying she had a “vested interest campaign trying to make a product” from the Mother and Baby Home Commission.
‘Hate campaign’
Collins said his response was sparked by the online abuse he and his colleagues have received.
“I have never in my life been subjected to an online hate campaign like that,” he said.
“They called me a bastard, a bastard, people have said: ‘I hope you die. I hope you catch Covid, watch your back. ‘
“I really believe that the people who are directing this abuse at public representatives should inform themselves and consider what they are saying.
“It is unprecedented and it is being orchestrated politically for political ends, look who is driving this.”
When asked who was politically motivated, Collins said the opposition “for both” to win votes and anger the public against the government, and that people should study who is orchestrating the campaign.
“There is a political agenda here, all these people are politically motivated, the opposition is exploiting the situation.”
To get an idea of the kinds of things that government TDs have been saying about activists outside of the gaze of these public forums that they will be participating in, here is a redacted email from FF TD, Niall Collins, sent to me.
This is Simon Harris’ junior minister. pic.twitter.com/aK0bwVIO8l
– Simon McGarr (@Tupp_Ed) October 26, 2020
Social Democrat TD Gary Gannon, in response to the email, said: “It is absolutely pathetic, Trump’s level of deliberate ignorance is demonstrated by Fianna Fáil.”
“They have misinterpreted the mood of the public and been wrong, it is an old style of politics to feel superior to the people on behalf of whom you are supposed to legislate.
“Niall Collins and (Justice Minister) Helen McEntee need to get off their horse, the people who are orchestrating this campaign are human rights activists, these are not dark figures, we know their names.
“I was bought into this campaign years ago by (activist and attorney) Maeve O’Rourke, and it was the greatest privilege of my life, there are no dark hands here.
“There are no political motivations and if you believe it, it is pathetic.
“His way of doing politics is disappearing, we are not leaving.
“We are not going to accept the secrecy and the way parts of our dark history are being covered up.
“As far as I’m concerned, they can go into the sea.”
Ireland
Sealing the home records of the mother and baby violates the law, d …
The bill was approved in the Dáil last week by 78 votes to 67 and by 22 votes to 16 in the Seanad and will oversee the transfer of a database of 60,000 adoption records compiled by the commission to Tusla, the Agency for Children and Families.
The rest of the records will be sealed for 30 years, however the Data Protection Commissioner has told the examiner that this would violate the GDPR.
While many survivors say sealing the records goes against their wishes and would deny them access to their own personal data.
As of Tuesday morning, an Uplift petition to “Repeal the seal” had 177,295 signatures.
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