Justice must be served to the Survivors of Magdalene Institutions

Published: Thursday, February 14, 2013

Following the report by the Inter-Departmental Committee Investigating State Involvement with the Magdalen Laundries the National Women's Council of Ireland has called on the Taoiseach and the Irish Government to issue a state apology to the women survivors.

Rachel Doyle, Head of Outreach of the National Women's Council of Ireland said,

'The National Women's Council of Ireland stands with survivors of these institutions and with the Justice for Magdalenes campaign in calling for an immediate state apology to the women whose human rights were violated and for the immediate establishment of a non-adversarial compensation scheme which may go some ways towards offering comfort to the women involved.'

She added,

'There is strong indisputable, historical evidence that the state were involved in maintaining and supporting the system of incarcerating women in these laundries. We call on Government as those charged with the responsibility to ensure that justice and human rights prevail, to bring justice and a sense of peace to the women involved. The least that these women deserve in their older years, is an apology from the state and compensation for their years of servitude and abuse.'

See press releases on this topic