Tag: Magdalene laundries

Meanwhile in Ireland…the nuns continue to refuse to help pay compensation to the women they held in slavery in the Magdalene laundries, because that’s how they roll.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter wrote to the Orders a number of weeks ago for the fourth time about contributing to the redress scheme and confirmed that two of the Orders had responded stating they would not contribute any money towards compensating the women. 

The redress scheme is expected to cost between €34m and €58m.

“I wrote to the religious congregations again on this matter several weeks ago following a statement made by the Holy See to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in relation to the Magdalen laundries,” said Mr Shatter.

“I have received responses from two of the congregations advising that their position is unchanged and I am awaiting a response from the other two congregations.”

The Sisters of Mercy, Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of Refuge, the Good Shepherd Sisters, and the Sisters of Charity have all stated their refusal to contribute financially to the redress scheme on previous occasions.

In 2012, the Irish Examiner reported that the four orders which ran the Magdalene laundries made almost €300m in property deals during the economic boom.

Compassion, sense of justice, sense of obligation, remorse, regret, responsibility – no, no, no, no, no, no. Generosity, kindness, fellow-feeling, sympathy, empathy – no, no, no, no, no.

Mr Shatter also said that he had written to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and asked it to forward any evidence it may have in respect of criminal activity committed in the Magdalen laundries “for the purpose of criminal investigation and possible prosecution.”

However, a spokesperson for Justice For Magdalenes Research expressed surprise that Mr Shatter felt the need to ask the UN for evidence of criminal acts when the group had provided such evidence to the McAleese Committee,” said the spokesperson.

“The State has already received considerable evidence of criminal acts and human rights abuses in the Magdalene laundries. JFMR brought relevant archival evidence and survivor testimony, which we offered to have sworn to the attention of the McAleese Committee. However, the committee chose to ignore these materials and omit them from its report.”

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has called on the Vatican to investigate the Magdalene laundries so those responsible for the abuse suffered in the institutions can be prosecuted.

Last May, the UN Committee Against Torture, which forced the Government to investigate the Magdalene laundries, criticised the report by Martin McAleese as “incomplete” and lacking “many elements of a prompt, independent, and thorough investigation”.

Well you know how it is. They’re only women. They’re sluts. They’re round-heels. They brought it on themselves.

The Sinn Féin website reports what its Deputy Leader said at the Glasnevin Flowers for Magdalene event. (Sinn Féin is, as I understand it, quite pro-church itself, so much of this may be political. That doesn’t make it untrue though.)

One year after Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s apology to the Magdalene survivors, Sinn Féin Deputy Leader Mary Lou McDonald TD has called on the government to introduce the long awaited Restorative Justice Bill.

Speaking after the annual Flowers for Magdalene event in Glasnevin today, Deputy McDonald said:

“A year ago Taoiseach Enda Kenny made an emotional address to survivors from the Magdalene laundries in Ireland.

“The apology was a historic recognition to the women survivors of the abusive Magdalene Laundry regime.

“Despite the Taoiseach’s apology many surviving women have been excluded from the redress scheme and just a fifth of the eligible women have received their payments.

“Pensions, medical care and the other provisions recommended by the Quirke report and signed off on by government have been delivered on. Confusion still remains for the small number of women living outside the state who wish to access medical services where they currently live.

“These delays are of deep concern given the age of the women with many in declining health. Sadly, we know of at least three of the women have passed on in the year since the apology.

“It is to this government’s great shame that it has failed to prioritise the Restorative Justice legislation and we are today calling on the Justice Minister to publish the bill as a matter of urgency.

“It must also be noted that the government’s provision of compensation and benefits is in no way a substitute for establishing the truth of what happened in the laundries.

“The nuns have still not apologised, nor will they contribute to the compensation fund.

“The lives of the women survivors have been and continue to be characterised by psychological suffering, poverty and stigma. They should not have to suffer further due to additional delays in the restorative justice process.”