Advertisement

Magdalene survivors & supporters criticise State over 'unfulfilled promises'

Magdalene laundries survivors are calling on the Government to follow through on 'unfulfilled&nbs...
Newstalk
Newstalk

13.56 25 Aug 2017


Share this article


Magdalene survivors & supp...

Magdalene survivors & supporters criticise State over 'unfulfilled promises'

Newstalk
Newstalk

13.56 25 Aug 2017


Share this article


Magdalene laundries survivors are calling on the Government to follow through on 'unfulfilled promises'.

It has been four years since the then Taoiseach Enda Kenny made an emotional apology to the women affected.

Survivors, family members and supporters held a rally at a former laundry on Sean McDermott Street in Dublin.

Advertisement

The site has been highlighted as a possible location for a memorial, but it has yet to be delivered.

The Dublin Honours Magdalenes (DHM) group says there has been a "lack of consultation with Magdalene survivors in how the Magdalenes are to be remembered in Ireland".

The demonstration comes only a fortnight after a UN committee warned that its call for the State to investigate all allegations of ill-treatment of women at the laundries have not been implemented.

It said the state has also failed to prosecute those responsible and ensure that victims get redress for their suffering.

A number of woman are reported to have complained about being excluded from the Magdalene redress scheme.

Mary Merritt - who was sent to a laundry from an orphanage - is now 86, and she says there needs to be more action.

She argued: "I want it done before anything happens me, and I'd like to see it for the rest of the women. Not so much for myself, because I'm too old [...] I want it so the rest of the women have it."

Mary said she wants an apology from the orders of nuns involved in operating the laundries, observing: "I want a full, full apology, because the apology that was given was false."

Magdalene survivors & supporters criticise State over 'unfulfilled promises'

00:00:00 / 00:00:00

Additional reporting by Nicole Gernon


Share this article


Read more about

News

Most Popular