PATSY McGARRY Religious Affairs Correspondent
Dissatisfaction with the pace of Government action when dealing with the issue of Magdalene Laundries was forcefully expressed by members of the Justice for Magdalene’s (JFM) group at Leinster House this afternoon.
Addressing a cross-party group of TDs and Senators, Katherine O’Donnell who is the head of Women’s Studies at UCD recalled Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s “great speech about the Vatican” in the Dáil but pointed out that it was still the case that some women survivors of the laundries “still live in Magdalene Ireland.”
She knew three such women who were dying of cancer. They “needed an apology (from the State) urgently as well as redress and restorative justice now,” she said.
In his speech to the Dail on July 20th last year the Taoiseach noted that “this is not Rome. Nor is it industrial-school or Magdalene Ireland, where the swish of a soutane smothered conscience and humanity and the swing of a thurible ruled the Irish-Catholic world. This is the ‘Republic’ of Ireland 2011.”
Lawyer Maeve O’Rourke said that next Monday JFM was planning to meet Felice Gaer, vice President of the United Nations Committee on Torture (UNCAT), in Dublin.
They would advise her that, despite UNCAT recommendations last year where the Magdalene Laundries were concerned, there had still been no apology to survivors of the Laundries, no redress and no independent investigation into the full facts of abuse in the Laundries.
Ms O’Rourke, who presented the JFM case to UNCAT in Geneva last year which led to the Committee making those recommendations, acknowledged that the Government had set up the inter-departmental committee under the chairmanship of Senator Martin McAleese to inquire into the Laundries.
But, she said, “it is still our case that the women are still no closer to redress or an apology – and that they cannot afford to wait any longer.”
She also said JFM reserved the right “to call for an investigation with statutory powers, which would augment the voluntary nature of Senator McAleese’s committee with powers to compel evidence in an open and transparent manner.”
Prof Jim Smith of Boston College presented a detailed 27-page report to the TDs and Senators which established “overwhelming evidence of State interaction” with the 10 Magdalene Laundries in the Republic.
@ Gerry 98:
Well said, Gerry. Spot on!
they are all in it together .
I am sorry to say but those groups like the Aislinn are for the convienence of the Government and Roman Catholic Church as long as they keep funding those groups Survivors will Never get Justice ,thats why the Clever Government’s advisors came up with the Idea in the first place >devide and rule they knew already that would happen group so called (effected) leaders Ex Industrial school appointed by the government( Bertie Ahern) set up the Aislinn Centre and hand picked survivors who were given power over the rest of survivors with huge funding , Massive Posh Offices in the heart of Dublin ,so that the problem (thats survivors)moves far away from the Real Abusers ie The Irish State dominated by the Roman Catholic Church ,The so called group leaders don’t realise if they do they choose not to as they love their power and funding and pampering by the state and media ,Wages, adoreation by the blind brainwashed ,they dont realise the damage they are doing to the rest of survivors and don’t care either just like the Corupt Government because of them there will Never be Justice,
Hello mary. well i was in goldenbridge as in my comment. in the 50ths in goldenbridge we did all the cleaning and we worked making rosary beads. all the place was cleaned and polished. the rosary beads and other things such as embroided broches. and clothes.so we worked in the industriel schools. the ladies in the magdelaine laundrys worked too. our bosses were the same. the church. its the total lack of human rights in these places that i mentioned.on here i do feel a lot more support than before i bought a computer.
Well Pauline how can you say you know nothing about the Magdalene laundries after claiming you were in one . In a comment you mentioned how everyone had to work in the laundries, Now you are saying you know nothing about the Magdalene laundries. Then you say you know about human rights what has that got to do the the abuse imprisonment and torture of women back then. When you didn’t even have the right to cry. I explained my experiences the difference to the laundries and the orphanages. . May be you should read what paddy put on his website before you go signing and supporting a cause you admit you know nothing about. This is why the Irish government got away with so much because survivors don’t always support each other.
oliver for a start you most read passed comments. You call yourself a slave now you saying your no longer a slave to the catholic church> You do confuse me as for my mum she was classed as a sinner whore and everything else .The truth hurts. Good bye.
mary wrote:-
“… you say you don’t understand my anger did I say I was angry. If expressing what happened to me is classed as anger I disagree.”
It’s natural for a child to be angry with its own Mother (primary guardian).
Its an entirely different thing for an adult to be angry with his/her own Mother, or whoever was their Parent(s) as child.
They key thing is to understand where one is coming from, i.e., the type of environment one grew up in. Then, and only then, can one understand where one is coming from …
What on earth gives you the impression that i have anything to do with the situation of the ladies in the laundrys. we have signed petitions to have them included in the statury fund.All our perents were constantly insulted by the nuns all the timeif you think that i begrudge the magdelaine ladies thier rights to speak i just dont know how you came to this conclusion. i dont know anything about the laundrys. but i do know about human rights.and anyway you wouldnt know though would you. we are all in this together.i worked for nine years in goldenbridge so being locked up is something i do know about.as for your mothers name well sorry but i dont know it.
Pauline you understand nothing about the laundries because if you did why in your comments begrudge the Magdalene women there say . This all about the industrial school and just remember I was in one to so I can see it from both sides of the fence.As I say again in my home we had a laundry attached big machines and a presser. They were used only for the children’s laundry we spent our evenings weekends up there doing the laundry for our orphanage. The Magdalene laundries is were grown up women had there civil rights taken away from them and there children. They worked for hospitals, hotels. and every organisation in Ireland.They never got paid for the hard labour and never saw the outside world only if they escaped. In the industrial school we went out. I visited my dear mum in this hell hole and got abused afterwards so I would not turn like her/I know the name of all the nuns the women that were resident there. They are my memories you have your and so does everyone else.If you class your self a slave that fine my mum had a name.Pauline you say you don’t understand my anger did I say I was angry. If expressing what happened to me is classed as anger I disagree.
Hi Pauline, we have changed things, a hell of a lot. We for a start, no longer are slaves, of these brutal Roman Catholics. And for your information, in these Irish Catholic Prisons, Mary, I like most slaves, were mostly identified, by a number. At least you could visit your birth mother, as you have just stated. So stop talking crap, I knew my mothers name, but my jailors referred to her as ” The Black Witch”. So stop whining, about something you know little or nothing about. Well said, Pauline, we on this great site are changing things, with our “Ugly Truths”. Twisted Oliver.
Mary. I just dont understand your anger.Its the situation these ladies lived in. there is nothing in all this decided by people who live abroad and who havent got a clue how all this was organised.Since you seem angry well we all are. The industriel schools and the laundrys were places in which we worked. This was known to all in power. You have your memorys so do the rest of us. If we could change things we would.we were slaves in the industriel schools. But mary i refuse to feel responsable for that part of my life.oneupmanship is not for me . i will continue writing as i want.If talking about the weaker makes you feel generous. Well its only a feeling what you do with that is up to you.
Well i have never lived in ireland other than my early years. the rest was goldenbridge. So no i wouldnt say that i know ireland. i am trying to understand from a distance. You see the same kind of things in other catholic countrysI dont have religous problems as i have kept away from religion. science is a lot more real to me as i can clearly see that its about lots of things including seeing that these visions of well dressed statues have nothing to do with reality. but the situation is such that people dont want to hear that.even though i am not in a damanding situation i want to give my thoughts on all that a bit of air. i hate to think we havent changed anything. and i see on the vidios that people are a bit more aware now of all that.
well your a selfish bunch. Why should the industrial schools have anything to do with the Magdalene laundries. If you wanted that to happen it should have been included the first day the Irish government and the holy nuns who spat out the word sorry to survivors included the laundries. There is a big difference pauline from the laundries to the industrial school. I should well know we had a laundry attached to our home where the children did there own washing of sheets and clothes. The Magdalene laundries is where I visited as a seven year old child and was reminded over and over my mum was evil, dirty, and nasty they were drugged to stop them having any type of emotions that includes the love for your child and a man. I hope the scum of Ireland suffer like my poor mum did.. My mum was born in Ireland she dose not exit to the Irish nation. She is classed as a sinner and a whore that is the way the women and men of Ireland think they were brainwashed to be pure in spirit what a joke. Oliver my mum had a name stop calling these women slaves.
Jackson Pauline wrote:-
” … it was the courts who decided to send us as free labour for the church.”
Pauline, you still don’t get it, do you? The Courts (i.e., the Irish legal system) worked hand in hand with the Irish State and the Irish Catholic Church – and they still do. Plus ca change … In other words, The System is the same as it ever was …
If you understood that, you would know what you need to do as an individual – starting with your own personal history. Tough going, I know, but to believe you (as an individual) will get some sort of Justice from the Irish political system is simply Wishful Thinking on your part. Sorry, Pauline, but that;s just the way societies like Catholic Ireland work …
I don’t know what age you are, Pauline, but you must surely know by now that belief in ANY organised religion is delusional, which no sane adult would subscribe to.
Catherine Roberts wrote:-
“Will this situation ever change I think not.”
Catherine, what “situation” exactly are you talking about?
Is it the Them versus Us thing; the Sane versus the Insane – or what?
Please elaborate …
Well I wasent thinking of comparing institutions. no its the fact that the word industriel schools arent mentioned. These places were in business and i dont believe that what was produced was given away. it was the courts who decided to send us as free labour for the church. if its not written down in black and white well i am afraid i dont trust the groups to keep this part present. we shouldnt have to guess whats going on. its part of the whole story. the effects of the catholic religion on ireland.
Will this situation ever change I think not.
Pauline, regardless of the divisive tags associated with our various enslavers. All Institutions, means all religious orders, all of these were also sanctioned by the then, Irish State and the Devalera Government, and then Irish Republic, nothing had changed. The destruction of these families, The kidnap, the imprisonment, the enslavement, the atrocities, the hypocrisy, the hard labour, the murder, the child drug experiments, the sexual abuse. All of these crimes committed were committed against, infant males and females, preteen males and females, teen males and females. Every infant, child, and teenager of all these various denominational, Institutions, being victims should be entitled to whatever Redress that has been or is currently available. Our children should be included. Of course the Nuns laundry slaves , have an equal entitlement. Twisted Oliver.
From the articel:-
“She (Katherine O’Donnell) knew three such women who were dying of cancer. They “needed an apology (from the State) urgently as well as redress and restorative justice now,” she said.”
No they don’t. All those three women who are dying of cancer need know is that they are faced with sociopaths (mostly male, but some female) who don’t give a damn about their well being.
If they could only face up to that fact, they would not be dying of cancer.
Death is inevitable …
jackson pauline wrote:-
“… Or is it a way of doing away with that part of it since thay cant bury the sexual abuse perhaps its that part that will be hidden.these ladies should recieve respect now. thay were slaves in catholic Ireland.”
Pauline, with respect, you don’t seem to realise what Catholic Ireland is about.
Roman Catholicism (whatever about other organised religiions) is all about MISOGYNY i.e., the hatred of women. In other words, the Male aspect of the Human hating the Female side of its character. Nature can’t get more fucked up than that!
BTW, I only saw two bees in my garden today and my garden is full of naturally grown lavender and rosemary …
The fact is, the women and children who were imprisoned in the Magdalene Laundries, or any of the Irish Catholic Industrial Schools, were not the only “slaves” in Holy Catholic Ireland.
ALL Irish women share the same history, regardless of where they live on the planet, share the same history – unless they have fully understood where they are coming from. Unfortunately, most Irish women do not.
The statury fund is very unclear about the industriel school. i dident see the word industriel in the text. as the laundrys were part of the same system i keep wondering if we are concerned at all by the fund or if its just our names.Or is it a way of doing away with that part of it since thay cant bury the sexual abuse perhaps its that part that will be hidden.these ladies should recieve respect now. thay were slaves in catholic Ireland.