Mixed Race Irish appear before Oireachtas Committee
Co–founders of the group Mixed Race Irish Carole Brennan, Evon Brennan and Rosemary Adaser were among the delegation who presented evidence before the Oireachtas Justice, Defence and Equality Committee yesterday. The group Mixed Race Irish seeks to represent the many mixed race Irish children who suffered institutional abuse in Ireland. They believe the alleged racist abuse they experienced in these institutions is being “airbrushed from Irish history”. They say that few, if any, records exist of mixed race Irish in any State institutions.
“Our research suggests this racism was endemic throughout all the institutions attended by our community,” co–founder Rosemary Adaser told the Justice Committee.
Co–founder Carole Brennan said that parish priests “would single out mixed race children and abuse them.”
“We believe we were treated differently, resulting in inequality, in these systems due to one simple fact – the colour of our skin,” she said
Committee chair David Staunton said the full details of these events were “very, very disturbing”, and described the group as one of the most impressive he had seen. The deputy added that the evidence presented to the committee will be passed on to the Minister.
Many members of the Mixed Race Irish, which consists of over 70 individuals in Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States, and China, have experienced issues around mental health, integration, and substance abuse, as well as continued racist abuse later in life. The group is now seeking some form of redress scheme to facilitate counselling services.
The group has carried out extensive research into the experiences of mixed race children in State institutions. A survey carried out of members of Mixed Race Irish revealed:
11% had died young, between the age of 22 and 45
Seven had taken their own life
44% said they were sexually abused
35% had debilitating mental health issues or suffered substance abuse
9% of young men had been incarcerated.
The group said that there have been issues in seeking support to the lack of awareness of what mixed race Irish people endured in the institutions.
“We are bringing this to your attention because we can no longer tolerate the racial suffering being airbrushed form Irish history,” co–founder Evon Brennan said.
If you wish to connect to Mixed Race Irish you can do so via their Facebook Group or call Irish in Britain on 020 7697 4081 and we can put you in touch. Read more on the Journal.ie
