her mother, philomena, was irish and wasn't married.meath. i should never have been in ireland — that's my take on that — because i was born in london. the mother and baby homes, as they were known, were seen as places of punishment. maria was eventually adopted. later, mother and daughter looked for each other. after philomena died, maria discovered they'd both lived in edinburgh at the same time. she wrote a poem about her sense of loss. you are the blood in my veins, the water in my teardrops. but still i ache. repatriations were organised by british and irish state agencies and religious charities until the 19705. research so far has revealed around 3,000 cases, but campaigners believe the realfigure is higher. archives indicate welfare officials in britain regarded unmarried irish mothers as a burden on resources. it was supposed to be an optional scheme for the woman. all of the women that i spoke to, they felt like it was completely forced, that they did not have a choice. maria's daughter says the state authorities, such as coun

her mother, philomena, was irish and wasn't married.or unmarried women and girls in castlepollard in county westmeath. i should never have been in ireland — that's my take on that — because i was born in london. the mother and baby homes, as they were known, were seen as places of punishment. maria was eventually adopted. later, mother and daughter looked for each other. after philomena died, maria discovered they'd both lived in edinburgh at the same time. repatriations were organised by british and irish state agencies and religious charities until the 19705. research, so far, has revealed around 3,000 cases, but campaigners believe the real figure is higher. archives indicate welfare officials in britain regarded unmarried irish mothers as a burden on resources. the cost was something that theyjust kept coming back to, and this was part of the reason for the repatriation scheme. it was supposed to be an optional scheme for the woman. all of the women that i spoke to, they all said they did not know that. they felt like it was complet

her mother, philomena, was irish and wasn't married.tlepollard in county westmeath. i should never have been in ireland — that's my take on that — because i was born in london. the mother and baby homes, as they were known, were seen as places of punishment. maria was eventually adopted. later, mother and daughter looked for each other. after philomena died, maria discovered they'd both lived in edinburgh at the same time. repatriations were organised by british and irish state agencies and religious charities until the 19705. research, so far, has revealed around 3,000 cases, but campaigners believe the real figure is higher. archives indicate welfare officials in britain regarded unmarried irish mothers as a burden on resources. the cost was something that theyjust kept coming back to, and this was part of the reason for the repatriation scheme. it was supposed to be an optional scheme for the woman. all of the women that i spoke to, they all said they did not know that. they felt like it was completely forced, that they did not have

. >> philomena mccann, did your sister-in-law, kate, say anything to you about the possibility that sheossibility, but that was all she knew. >> kate mccann experienced hours and hours of interrogation by the portuguese police. and guess what. most of them didn't speak english. >> they simply said to her, "if you can confess to killing madeleine, we can guarantee that you'll have two or three years in prison." and kate just was shocked by that. and she sees it as emotional blackmail, as intimidation. >> whistles and boos greeted kate mccann as she entered a portuguese police station for a second straight day of questioning. >> gerry. gerry! >> her husband, gerry, followed a short time later for his latest official interview. >> 11 hours yesterday for kate mccann, another five hours today. and for her husband, he's been spending about eight hours before he came out. >> their lawyer finally told them, "you don't have to continue this if you don't want to." and they did not. >> tonight, we can confirm both are no longer witnesses in the disappearance of their daughter, madeleine. they are