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Dublin: 6 °C Friday 24 May, 2013

Govt to pay €250,000 to fund UK centre for Irish Magdalene survivors

The funds will be given to the UK Step by Step Centre for Irish Survivors of Industrial Schools and the Laundries.

Image: Oireachtas.ie

THE GOVERNMENT IS to give €250,000 to fund the UK Step by Step Centre for Irish Magadalene Laundries survivors, Minister for Justice and Equality Alan Shatter said today.

Speaking in the Dáil following the official State apology from the Taoiseach Enda Kenny to the Magdalene survivors, Shatter said that the largest single group of women who have come forward are based in the UK and represented by the Irish Women’s Survivors Network.

He said that it is now proposed that the Step by Step Centre for Irish survivors be established as a holistic and person-centred service that would offer specialist advice and support to those affected, and focus on ensuring their future health and well being.

Minister Shatter also noted:

the greatest respect we can pay to their stories of the laundries is that those stories, and the lessons from them, are never forgotten and are truly believed.

The Government has made a decision in principle to pay out of the fund an initial sum of €250,000 to the UK Step by Step Centre for Irish Survivors of Industrial Schools and the Laundries.

Fund

A fund for Magdalene survivors is to be established, it was announced tonight. Minister Shatter said:

The Government has decided to include those women who worked in the Stanhope Street Laundry without pay within the scope of the fund.

President of the Law Reform commission Mr Justice Quirke has been appointed to examine how the Government might best provide supports for the survivors.

A scheme will be created under the fund (to operate on a non-adversarial basis) to make payments to individuals.

From tomorrow, people can contact the Justice Department to register their interest in being considered to receive benefits or supports from the fund when it enters into operation.

The details are:

Magdalene Laundry Fund
c/o Department of Justice and Equality
Montague Court
Montague Street
Dublin 2

Tel. 01-476 8649; e-mail info@idcmagdalen.ie; web sites: www.idcmagdalen.iewww.justice.ie

Read: Kenny “deeply regrets and apologises unreservedly” to Magdalene women in emotional speech>

Read: In full: Enda Kenny’s State apology to the Magdalene women>

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Comments (16 Comments)

  • And how much will church pay?

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  • Surely the bill should be sent to the Vatican?

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  • Correction. State to pay €250,000.

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  • How much did the state give to the soldiers who were actually paid to do their work …..

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  • The catholic church should pay the bill. It sickens me that womens rights were violated in this way. Did the european union know this was going on? How did they get away with it

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  • The Irish Psychiatric Profession should also apologise to Magdalene victims.

    The Psychiatric profession colluded with the Catholic Church in incarcerating thousands of innocent Irish Women and Men for ” unacceptable, deviant behaviour” – ie. being a Single Mother or being a Homosexual in the Fifties and Sixties. Many lives were ruined by these guys ordering Lobotomies, Freezing Insulin Baths and Electric Shock Treatments on many healthy people.

    When will the media scrutinise the numerous abuses by Consultant Psychiatrists ? We know of several cases involving these so called pillars of the Community locking innocent people up in return for large cash payments . They remain above the Law and when they get a diagnosis wrong, the unfortunate patient has no opportunity for redress. They intimidate and bully. Have any of these arrogant elitists ever apologised for the sins committed in the name of their professional research ?

    We now know, thanks to great work, by the late Mary Rafferty that these abuses were/are still happening recently in Waterford and other Institutions. Doctor Dennis Lane O’ Kelly has been named in the excellent RTE documentary, ‘Behind the Walls’. Yet those who knew about this and other abuses are still employed by the HSE. Do these experts on all aspects of human nature really expect us to believe that they knew nothing about the sexual abuse of vulnerable people being instigated by one of their colleagues, Dr. Lane O’ Kelly ?

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  • 250,000 Given to this unheard of Centre, before the 3 Month audit of need they seem to think is required!! WHY??

    On closer Scrutiny this Centre Does Not Exist??

    Funding of Survivors Groups in Ireland has been very Controversial! Have they Learned NOTHING?

    No doubt it will be London Based, as if there are only Survivors in London?

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  • can someone in the Irish Government pray tell just WHY ?? is that Woman in London getting another lot of funding £250,000 for a service THAT DOES NOT EXIST??? are they all insane

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  • it is from the compansation that was supposed to be for the survivors, this Group in London and other so called Groups in the UK and Ireland surported by the irish State have been recieving Funding using survivors names saying they surport survivors and offer services to them ,(NOT ) those so called Groups are only interested in keeping themselves and their friends in their well paid JOB’s >While the real survivors have been IGNORED and BULLIED into SILENCE , they help survivors > Pig’s might Fly. It’s another CON

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  • HELP US MAGDALENES WHAT WITH A CUP OF TEA OR COFFEE ..I DONT THINK SO ITS A SHAM ..TO SUDDENLY CROP UP WITH NO HISTORY ITS A SUSPICIOUS ORGANISATION ..I FOR ONE WILL SKIP IT I CAN MAKE MY OWN TEA ..WHERE HAVE THOSE DO GOODERS BEEN WHEN SOME OF US LAY DYING FROM OVERDOSES AND ON LIFE SUPPORTS ..WHERE WERE THOSE DO GOODERS AND SO CALLED COUNCILLARS ..WHEN WE NEEDED THEM …I DONT WANT THEM NO THEY CAN SUCK IT UP BUTTERCUPS

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