Survivors’ access to historical abuse records

  • In 2019/20, students including Mary Harney worked with Claire McGettrick of Adoption Rights Alliance and Justice for Magdalenes Research to create a website, mydatarights.ie, containing written Guides and template letters to assist survivors of industrial and reformatory schools to use the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Commission complaints process if necessary to obtain their personal data. This group obtained the pro bono assistance of a Galway-based data protection solicitor to help their work. They issued a press statement upon publication of the website, which was covered in the Irish Examiner and elsewhere. They also emailed information about the website and the printable Guides to a large array of survivor and Irish immigrant support organisations in Ireland and abroad. Mary Harney and Dr Maeve O’Rourke gave written and oral evidence to the Oireachtas Education Committee about the Government’s Retention of Records Bill in November 2019, and other group members live tweeted the hearing, contributing to public awareness of the legal and policy issues, including the necessity for Government to ensure survivors’ access to their personal data in accordance with GDPR law.
  • In 2020/21, students worked with Loughlin O’Nolan of Article 8 Advocacy, Cassie Roddy-Mullineaux of AWO data rights agency, and Claire McGettrick of Adoption Rights Alliance to research, design and publish a mini website within the datasubject.ie website entitled Mother and Baby Homes data protection hub https://datasubject.ie/mbh/. The project aimed (1) immediately to empower people affected by the Mother and Baby Homes and related unlawful adoption practices in their search for information, and (2) to emphasise for the public and those in power the relevance of GDPR to the questions of legislating for information access, and affected people’s immediate access to the archive of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation. In an accessible manner the site provides guides and templates to help individuals make subject access requests of all relevant bodies, and it further explains the legal framework of the GDPR and the factual background (including personal narratives, updates and news, and ways of participating in the public advocacy campaign for identity rights). The Irish Examiner published an opinion editorial by the students explaining their work.