A RICHHILL man who claims he and several others were abused as
children in a Protestant Church-funded orphanage in County Wicklow is
heading a campaign for justice.
Sidney Herdman (48), a printer with a partner and
two children, lived in the now notorious Westbank Home in Greystones
during the late 1960s and early 1970s after his mother moved from
Northern Ireland to Dublin to give birth to him.
He claims he
and other young boys and girls were abused and wants a full
investigation along the lines of the Ryan Report into abuse in the
Catholic Church.
“There was terrible physical, sexual and mental abuse, the scars of which I still wrestle with every day,” said Sidney.
The home was run by an Adeline Mathers who came from Portadown – she
died in 1999.
And while she was not involved in sexual abuse, Mr Herdman
said, “She often beat us with electric cable and injected us if we wet
the bed – she was a tyrant of a woman, who claimed to be a born-again
Christian. We lived in constant fear.”
Protestant churches north
of the border and the Republic’s Government have so far failed to take
responsibility for what allegedly happened.
“The home was funded
by Protestant churches from Northern Ireland, and was in the
jurisdiction of the Republic, with neither taking responsibility for
what went on – it was all swept under the carpet,” he said.
The
main abusers, he claimed, were church people who used to travel to the
home from the north, “and subjected young boys and girls, including
myself, to physical, mental and sexual abuse, beginning with giving us
sweets and money and then getting on with this awful abuse, which
included rape of teenagers – they would come to our bedrooms and we knew
what was coming next.”
He added that many of the children, who
were left malnourished, were taken north to work for nothing, usually on
farms, and that the funding came from the main churches, including the
Church of Ireland, Presbyterians, Methodist and the Free Presbyterians.
“I have sought help from all these churches and met a brick wall every
time, but to be fair, the churches gave the money with the best of
intentions, unaware of what was going on,” he said.
As well as
the Westbank Home, the Protestant Churches in Northern Ireland largely
funded the notorious Bethany Home for mothers-and-babies in Dublin –
mainly for unmarried mothers – and Sidney’s mother languished there for a
couple of years in the 1960s. Pressure is on, too, for an investigation
there, where there are a reported 219 unmarked graves, with a large
proportion of babies having died.
Said Sidney, “Now that victims
of abuse within Catholicism have access to a full inquiry, we must have
similar redress. The Catholic Church is looking into allegations of
abuse in the Christian Brothers, Sisters of Mercy and Magdalene
Laundries establishments, and we want the same.”
He recalled
that, in order to raise funds for the home, young children were taken up
north to sing in various churches – “sometimes as late as 11pm, but to
be honest that was an escape, as we were treated kindly in those
churches.”
He was known as ‘Sidney Mathers’ until he was six and
was then made aware of his birth mother and became ‘Sidney Herdman’. He
lived for a number of years with his mother, and they moved to England
later on. And he spoke of “a kind Christian Portadown family” who
fostered him from time to time, “and one of whom I regard as a mother,
they’ve been so kind to me, but I’m not revealing their identity”.
Sidney stepped up his campaign when the findings of the Ryan Report in
the Republic opened the door to redress the wide range of child abuse
within the Catholic Church. He felt a deep sense of injustice and
discrimination when the Protestant institution were “excluded and
ignored”.
He has canvassed politicians and church people north
and south, especially within the NI Assembly – like Industry Minister
Arlene Foster, DRD Minister Danny Kennedy and William Irwin MLA, the
latter two being representatives within the Newry-Armagh Constituency,
which includes Sidney’s home village of Richhill.
They are all
putting pressure on Alan Shatter TD, Minister for Justice in the Dail,
to include both Westbank and Bethany in the overall inquiry. Said Mr
Irwin, “I have met Mr Herdman’s pressure group and have written to Mr
Shatter. He has replied that he has not reached a final decision, but is
giving serious consideration to the issues involved. I will keep the
pressure on.”
Mr Kennedy said, “These are serious allegations,
and these victims have been left in limbo, with most coming from
Northern Ireland, yet having lived in the Republic’s jurisdiction.
“Both seem to be washing their hands of the situation, and it is
important these people are given the chance to air their concerns. That
is why the Assembly is keeping the pressure on the Dail.”
Mr
Herdman said he was seeing Ian Paisley Junior adding that
the least they deserved was the same consideration as the Catholic
victims, who now have their full inquiry “and are being listened to
after all these years, and we won’t stop until we received justice.”