Westbank Redress Take It To Church

Andrew Yates at Greystones Presbyterian Church SUN5MAY24

atest press release from Westbank Redress, issued on Monday, May 6th 2024…

Former Westbank residents Sidney Herdman, Colm Begley and Andrew Yates rounded off handing out information at Evangelical, Presbyterian, Church of Ireland and Roman Catholic services in Bray and Greystones on Sunday, May 5th 2024, with a visit from local TD Jennifer Whitmore.

She pledged to continue raising the Westbank Redress issue in the Dáil with fellow Wicklow TD, Taoiseach Simon Harris.

Sidney, Colm and Andy and their partners received a very positive reception from the public and at all of the churches they visited, apart from one, Bray Gospel Hall (Christian Assembly Bray).

There, church official Gordon Lewis objected to leaflets being handed out to those attending and particularly to a Westbank Redress poster on a pole outside the Gospel Hall. So much so, as photos below show, the surprisingly sprightly Mr Lewis, after initially failing to remove the poster by jumping up and attempting to bat it down, fetched a chair, stood on it, reached up successfully and tore down the poster, before proceeding to shred it publicly.

Other more recent members of the congregation disclaimed knowledge of Westbank and the Gospel Hall’s once close association with the orphanage. All conversations proceeded in a civil and respectful manner. Afterwards, though still hostile to the message of the former residents, Gordon Lewis asked us in for some lunch.

Westbank Orphanage

We politely declined as other arrangements had been made. Perhaps next time, soon.

It rounded off a very successful three days of leafleting and postering on the Westbank Redress issue.

Public sympathy and support was universally shown (with one exception, above). Will Simon Harris get the message and act likewise?

You can find out more about the Westbank orphanage here, and read the survivors’ open letter to Simon Harris here.