Fréa Renewing Roots has been supporting former residents of the Republic of Ireland’s Mother and Baby and County Homes, as well as other institutions, who are now living in the north of England, since 2022.
We have been providing free, confidential and trauma informed support on inquiries, such as accessing the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme, obtaining records held by institutions and accessing counselling.
In October 2023 we expanded our team to welcome Natalie Hughes Crean and Ciaran Connolly to augment the work that we were already undertaking. This allowed Fréa Renewing Roots to support more people and diversify our work.
At the heart of this work is people. It is about people who were exploited, incarcerated, who were silenced and ignored. It is about empowering people and engaging with them on an individual and community level.
Fréa Renewing Roots has three central aims, to advise, to advocate and to publicise.
This is the final of three posts reviewing our work over the previous 12 months.
Fréa Renewing Roots have been busy advising former residents of Ireland’s Mother and Baby and County Homes as well as other institutions from across the north of England. Since January 2024 we have seen 42 people, advising on a variety of issues such as applying to the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme, the impact that receipt of a payment can have on means tested benefits, completing Affidavits and applying for records on time spent in institutions.
"Trust me Ciaran, I don't know what we would do without you and your team"
The Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme
The Payment Scheme was opened in March 2024. Fréa Renewing Roots staff were quickly able to familiarise themselves with the rules on applications to the Payment Scheme as we had to give accurate, up-to-date advice to anyone wishing to make an application. This included;
understanding rules on eligibility
obtaining Affidavits
the different types of payments (General Payment, Work Related Payment, Health Support Payment)
legal costs
Over the last 12 months, we have helped 27 people make applications to the Payment Scheme.
Many of the people who we saw required assistance in making online applications. People that we engaged with had varying degrees of experience using the internet – some had never used the internet before, while others wanted re-assurance that their forms were successfully submitted. Staff were busy helping set up accounts, upload identification and submit relevant information.
Once applications have been submitted, we continue to offer support, often contacting the Payment Scheme to discuss queries and helping to submit follow up information. We continue to offer support up until and often beyond the point where a payment has been made.
“Thanks a lot Natalie for all of your hard work you are amazing.”
Tracing Records
Over the past 12 months, FRR staff have helped make applications for 22 separate set of records held by government or religious institutions. This can be a complicated task as not all records have been centralised, and therefore we may need to apply to numerous institutions. So far we have assisted with the retrieval of records from:
The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (via Subject Access Requests)
The Adoption Authority of Ireland
TUSLA
Religious orders who ran institutions
County Council Archivists
The number and type of records that are returned can vary from person to person, with some people receiving extensive information, others may only receive one or two sheets, and other searches may return nothing at all.
In cases where people receive comprehensive records, they state that it gives them an insight into their upbringing and background and a sense of identity.
Once records are received, staff are happy to sit down with a person and answer questions on their contents. Some of the language can be dated or confusing, however over time staff have become experienced in reading these records and giving some context to them.
"I honestly don't know how we could manage without you!"
Referring to Counselling
Being incarcerated in an institution can have a traumatic effect on a person. Often this is compounded by the stigma that many people felt as a result of being in the institutions as a mother or a child. It often means that people felt that they could not discuss their experiences with anyone else.
Part of the Irish Government Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions is the offer of free counselling. This can be availed of by survivors of the institutions and in some cases family members. As part of our remit we talk to people about accessing counselling with Immigrant Counselling and Psychotherapy (ICAP).
ICAP offer free counselling to people who were in the Republic of Ireland’s institutions and who are now living in England. ICAP’s advice is trauma-informed with counsellors who have an insight into the experiences of people who suffered from this incarceration. Since January 2024, FRR has referred 6 people into counselling with ICAP.
Fréa Renewing Roots role is not just to advise; it is to build a relationship of trust and understanding with survivors of institutions and their family members. The above is a snapshot of the advice and conversations that we have had over the last year. We look forward to continuing to offer support to survivors of Ireland’s institutions and developing new relationships.
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