VICTOR STEVENSON, A former resident at the Westbank orphanage in Wicklow, has died suddenly after a short illness.
Stevenson was born in 1959 to a single mother and at three months of age, he was transferred to the Protestant Mayil (later Westbank) orphanage in Bray.
Very few children were ever adopted from the institution and survivors say they were beaten with electric flexes and frequently allowed to go hungry. Children from the home were often used in Northern Ireland as child labourers on farms.
The 57-year-old had worked for years campaigning to highlight the horrors faced by himself and others as children in the institution.
Speaking two years ago about his time there, he recalled a boy who was beaten so badly he had to remain in bed in a filthy outhouse. Other children at the orphanage were told that he was, under no circumstances, to be fed.
To this day, former residents break down when they relate how, under great fear, they squirrelled scraps of food to the unfortunate boy. It is a fear they feel to this day.
Campaigner Niall Meehan confirmed Stevenson’s passing, which came after a short illness. He said it “came as a great shock” to the man’s friends.
Victor considered himself “one of the lucky ones”, according to Meehan because his adoptive father was able to extract him from the orphanage at age seven.
“Victor made sure that the voices of others were heard before reluctantly speaking of his own journey through life,” Meehan said of his friend.
With former residents, Victor demanded that the government add the Braemar Rescue Home for Protestant Girls, Westbank Orphanage and the Nursery Rescue Society to the terms of reference of the currently sitting Mother and Baby Home Commission of Inquiry.
“In Victor’s memory we will continue to press that demand.”
Victor Stevenson is remembered as a true friend and champion of all who suffered the physical, psychological and emotional ill-effects of prejudice and of ignorance.
He is survived by his wife Beverly and their two children.
Victor’s funeral will take place at 2pm on Thursday 26 May from John Grey’s Funeral Home, Bangor, Co Down.
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