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A WOMAN WHO was adopted illegally says the scandal is far more widespread than just St Patrick’s Guild and has asked why the issue is only emerging now when she has raised it with three separate children’s ministers and has campaigned about it for more than 10 years.
Theresa Hiney Tinggal was 48-years-old when a family member told her that she was adopted. “It completely destroyed my life for some time,” the 64-year-old told TheJournal.ie.
I didn’t know anything. My mother had told my sisters when they were teenagers. The neighbours knew, everybody knew. You really feel cheated.
Despite her adoption being widespread knowledge within her family it is not acknowledged on her birth cert as her adoptive parents are listed as her biological parents.
Yesterday Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone revealed that at least 126 people were incorrectly registered at birth between the years 1946 and 1969 by St Patrick’s Guild adoption society.
Minister Zappone said that dozens of the people affected may not even know that they are adopted. She added that they have known about the practice of incorrect registrations for many years, but it has been extremely difficult to identify and prove in individual cases.
Hiney Tinggal is not included in the figures because she was not adopted from the agency at the centre of the controversy.
Her fellow campaigner Paul Redmond, who is chairperson of Adoption Rights Now, agrees that the practice was far more widespread than just St Patrick’s Guild.
Redmond maintains that the Dublin society was just one of dozens that engaged in the practice.
Speaking to Morning Ireland on RTÉ today the Chief Executive of the charity Barnardos, Fergus Finlay, went even further, saying he believes that every single adoption agency in the state was involved in illegal adoptions.
“The consequences for real people’s lives are severe,” Redmond said. “Many of these people have no idea they’re adopted. They have fake medical backgrounds. This can have huge health implications.”
The government has thrown those poor people to the wolves.
Hiney Tinggal runs the Adopted illegally Ireland website which provides information to people who were adopted illegally.
“Since I found out I’ve been completely ignored,” she said. “They have known for years and they’ve done absolutely nothing about it. I can’t believe what I’ve read today. They knew all about it.
A lot of important people were involved and nobody did this out of the goodness of their hearts. It was all because of money.
Theresa has campaigned for people who were adopted illegally for at least 10 years and in that time she says she has contacted three children’s ministers, Frances Fitzgerald, James Reilly and Katherine Zappone.
“Where has all of this suddenly come from?” she asked. “I’ve been talking about this for more than 10 years and I’ve just been met with blank stares.”
After years of searching Hiney Tinggal eventually found her mother last year. Sadly the woman had passed away eight years earlier but she was able to find out about her history thanks to the woman’s family.
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Spot on, our own antivaxxers, antivaxxers and conspiracy theorists are anti Ukraine and will have the same opinion when the warmonger Putin overthrows Moldova,
@Charles Coughlan: your comment is above and beyond dum.
@John Johnes: actually most anti science nutjobs I’ve known, watch RT news every night.
@Donal Desmond: I strongly recommend to watch documentary on Netflix “How become a tyrant” epizode 2 that will give you some idea about SH.
@Charles Coughlan: Geopolitics is not a simplistic team sport, in which you have to pick a side and blindly support them no matter what, while waving their colours to identify yourself to others as a loyal supporter.
The invasion of Ukraine is an illegal act of aggression by Putin and targeting civilians is reprehensible, but its not as simple as starting the clock from the invasion and chanting Russia bad, NATO good, its a lot more complex and long running situation that has brought us to this point, acknowledging the documented reality that nuance and bigger picture exists, is neither supporting Putin, anti Ukraine, or a conspiracy theory.
Accepting or embracing a simplistic reductive black and white narrative from any side of this situation is frankly just intellectual laziness.
@Donal Desmond: Yeah sure you know best . Go back to watching Rossiya Segodnya.
@Donal Desmond: Of course we remember. I wonder do you remember the reaction to that? The protests in nearly every major city in the world, the countries that point blank refused to support it, the embargos on French produce in the US because France wouldn’t roll in with them. Most people condemned it at the time and most still do. In the same way most people condemn this war now. It’s not an either/or situation and your whataboutry is both banal and pointless.
@artur fil: Same as watching our national broadcaster RTE. Certainly do not know best, but our own media is not shy in the propaganda game.
@Francis Devenney: I don’t remembered it exactly like that. People were against the war while we all thought it was a plot to start a war due to the terrorist attack on the twin towers and USA interests. That was until the the lies/mistake on MDW was confirmed and heavenly published by the media. Shortly after the war broke and the protest then become a small minority. With time they become nothing and after the terrorist attack in Madrid on 2004 and then in London in 2005 the protests were all forgotten and anything related to wars in the middle east was accepted by the public without questions, including the “mistake” made in Iraq.
@Francis Devenney: Whatabourty is pointless? A bit like denying the past. Most conflicts that take place relates to what happened in the past..History repeats itself. The invasion of Ukraine was wrong, but the hypocrisy of our politicians and media is comical.
@Donal Desmond: When someone says “this is bad” and someone else says “Yeah, well this other thing is bad too” what is the point of that? It doesn’t contribute at all. It is literally pointless. And as everyone knows the other thing was bad, it is the very definition of banal to make such a statement in the first place
@John Johnes: no it is not , some of them are outside the embassy purporting to be “journalists”
Watching world leaders making daily phone calls to Putin is getting embarrassing at this stage. All it serves to do is boost his ego and feelings of self importance. Like Hitler before him, once he gets what he wants, there will be a new list of contrived grievances and demands. Once again, world leaders will throw their hands up in shock horror at his duplicity.
@Paul Shepherd: What do you think is the appropriate course of action?
@Paul Shepherd: The West especially the U.S. from Vietnam to Afghanistan have learned a lesson that with all their technology wars are not easily won. Not for a second condoning the invasion of Ukraine, but like 1914 the jingoistic propaganda of all sides seem to be heading in that direction. Only difference thus time is the finger on the button. Talking is better than the alternative.
@Donal Desmond: not much point in talking to a deaf person?
@Paul Shepherd: Suppose when I replied to your comment, didn’t realise I was corresponding with the blinkered..A serious comment from you would be appreciated. Like Joe Duffy you seem to be at a loss when faced with a different viewpoint.
Like the picture. Pinnochio himself
It’s very easy to see it online now. Loads of utterly ridiculous theories and “genuine” “analysis” and understanding of the issue. And while reading through comments on FB pages of Reuters, Euronews and a few others, one can see how they try to divide us on a simple matter of unjustified military invasion and aggression on Ukraine.
How can a country with a population of 146 million people, most of whom don’t have a clue what’s going on, hold the rest of the world to ransom. The rest of the world should be ashamed allowing this to happen. So what if Putin presses the nuclear button he won’t see the next sunrise if he does and by all accounts the world is fkd anyway according to David Attenborough. So stand up for what is right, it’s time to get rid of the worlds dictators and their apologists.
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