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Wednesday 22 March 2023 Dublin: 7°C

# Magdalene Laundries

Last month
February 2023
# Elizabeth coppin
'I could feel the blood draining from me': Magdalene survivor criticises 'frightening' UN decision
Elizabeth Coppin said survivors of institutional abuse are being left with nowhere to turn.
# Elizabeth coppin
'I feel deflated, so low': Magdalene laundry survivor loses case at UN Committee Against Torture
Elizabeth Coppin argued that Ireland had violated her human rights under the Convention against Torture.
Elizabeth Coppin argued that Ireland had violated her human rights under the Convention against Torture, Órla Ryan reports
The UN Committee Against Torture has ruled in favour of the Irish State - a decision criticised by human rights experts
"I felt deflated, so low, and very sad, not just for me but for all of the Magdalene women who died in vain," Coppin said
'I was the child of a fallen woman': Boyd Barrett gives powerful speech in Mother & Baby debate
'Mothers had their children ripped out of their arms': 24,000 people excluded from redress
Voices
Opinion: Will it take a miracle for State to do right thing on Mother and Baby redress scheme?
The proposed redress scheme – which is expected to pass in the Dáil today – is deeply flawed, James Smith writes.
All time
# Inquiry
Michelle O’Neill to push for public inquiry into mother and baby homes
An expert panel has recommended an ‘integrated investigation’ by a non-statutory independent panel, feeding into a statutory public inquiry.
# Magdalene Laundries
'Will this be Opportunity Lost 2.0?': State must 'learn from mistakes' of past redress schemes
A new book explores Magdalene laundries and the State’s response to institutional abuse.
# sean mcdermott street
'It was like a jail': What should become of Ireland's last Magdalene Laundry?
It was the last laundry in the State to close in 1996 and has become a focal point for potential memorialisation.
# Committee Against Torture
'The door to her cell was bolted': Magdalene survivor takes case against Ireland to UN
Elizabeth Coppin’s complaint will be heard by the UN’s Committee Against Torture.
# mary cavner
Magdalene Laundry survivor (80) awarded settlement for unpaid work
Mary Cavner worked at the Good Shepherd’s Convent in Co Cork following her father’s death.
# Donnybrook
'Simply unacceptable': Plans for apartments on former Magdalene Laundry site under fire
The new plan is to comprise of 44 apartments in three three-four storey apartment blocks.
# Department of Justice
Just one maximum compensation payout in Magdalene scheme since expansion
The government has compensated nine Magdalene women out of 87 who have applied since the scheme was widened last year.
# Payments
'Nobody will be left short': Magdalene Laundry redress to be extended to survivors blocked from compensation
Lump sum and pension payments will be made to the women affected.
# Magdalene Laundries
'Many still don't know where loved ones are buried': Irish abuse conference happening in Boston
Minister Katherine Zappone will deliver a keynote speech at the event which is exploring adoption and institutional abuses.
# sean mcdermott street
Dublin City Council says sale of former Magdalene Laundry site is 'chance of a lifetime'
Objections have been raised to the proposed sale of the site to a Japanese hotel chain.
# Magdalene Laundries
"The nightmares will always be there": These Magdalene survivors tell their personal stories
We spoke to four survivors who told us their personal stories of their time in the laundries.
# Frances' story
'The nun made us put our hands on electrical panels to get an electric shock'
Abandoned, abused and abducted – this is one woman’s Magdalene story.
# magdalene survivors
'I think Magdalene survivors should be remembered one day every year'
Around 220 women are in Dublin as part of the Dublin Honours Magdalenes event
# magdalene survivors
'Ireland failed you' - President hosts Magdalene Survivors
Around 220 women, now in their 80s were in Dublin today.
# Áras An Uachtaráin
'I'm still angry': Survivors to discuss how Magdalene Laundries should be remembered
“I was taken in by the nuns at 15 – I hadn’t even kissed a boy”: Elizabeth Coppin told RTÉ about her experience in a Cork Laundry.
# Mansion House
Hundreds of Magdalene Laundry survivors gather in Dublin for two-day event
The women, many of them aged in their 80s, are gathering to discuss their experiences in Ireland’s Magdalene Laundry institutions.
Voices
Magdalene Laundries: 'Memorial needed for women detained under heartless, vicious regime'
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald argues work should begin on a memorial on the site of the Sean McDermott St Laundry.
# Dublin
Appeal to fund hotel stays for large-scale gathering of Magdalene survivors
Justice for Magdalenes Research is calling on the government to help organise the event.
Voices
Magdalene memorial: 'I grew up in the shadow of that laundry'
If we are truly committed to remembering those darkest parts of our history, then we should preserve the Sean McDermott Street building as a living monument, writes Gary Gannon.
# sean mcdermott street
Japanese hotel chain is 'likely' buyer for Magdalene Laundry site - councillor
Plans for the site include a hotel, a student residence, a cultural amenity and ten residential units.
# Human Rights
UN criticises government for failure to prosecute abuse perpetrators in Magdalene Laundries
The UN Committee Against Torture is critical of the government’s record in a number of areas.
# a life stolen
"Nobody told us she had died" - the story of Margaret Bullen, who spent her entire life in a Magdalene Laundry
Margaret Bullen died in 2003 aged just 50 from a disease possibly linked to her exposure to industrial-strength chemicals in the Laundries where she had lived.
# Magdalene Laundries
'They’d put me in a room with nothing to eat and no windows. Then they would cut my hair to the bone'
A survivor returned this week to the Magdalene Laundry where she had been forced to spend her youth.
Voices
'Enda, parents sent children to industrial schools because a court compelled them or they had no choice'
Enda Kenny has said he wants to deal with the dark legacies of our past but following his statements this week, he’s still way off the mark, writes Sinead Pembroke.
# mark of respect
Public asked to lay flowers at graves of Magdalene women today
Over 1,600 women are buried in cemeteries around the country, many of whom are in unmarked graves.
# Flowers for Magdalenes
Public asked to lay flowers on graves of Magdalene women for Mother's Day
At least 1,663 former Magdalene women are buried in cemeteries in Ireland – many in unmarked graves.
# Magdalene Laundries
'Six women from our group have passed away... it’s upsetting'
Some Magdelene survivors are “disappointed” with government support measures.
# Long Time Coming
Magdalene survivors to get specialised health cards from next month
The women will be eligible for a range of health services from the start of July.
# Justice
How many died in Magdalene laundries? Survivors at odds with Government on the figures
Justice for Magdalenes is preparing a critique on the McAleese report into the Magdalene laundries.
# knit and stitch
An inmate in Limerick Prison made these Magdalene-inspired quilts
The man’s teacher said most students in the prison have little or no art experience and the classes help them to see what they’re capable of.
# JFMR
"Important services" missing from Magdalene survivors redress scheme
Justice for Magdalenes Research has said that it falls short of what was previously recommended to Government.
# Human Rights
UN told symphysiotomy patients were 'operated upon wide awake and often screaming'
The Justice Minister defended the State redress scheme for survivors of symphysiotomy at a meeting of the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva today.
Voices
Opinion: Adoption, illegitimate children and ‘the bogey of proselytism’ in Catholic Ireland
The history of Ireland’s legal adoption battle is fraught with examples of church-state collusion, even after 1952 when legislation for it was finally enacted in Ireland.
# Magdalene Laundries
Government announces legislation to support Magdalene survivors
The Justice Minister also announced that lump sums totalling €12.8 million have been paid to survivors.
# tuam babies
County homes ruled out of inquiry to prevent a "bottomless quagmire"
The Minister for Children said the investigation into mother-and-baby homes must have a time-limit and be cost-effective.
# statutory investigation
"Huge traffic" between Magdalene laundries and mother-and-baby homes
Justice for Magadalenes Research said today that the laundries should be included in the government’s statutory investigation.
Voices
Column: We must stop claiming that 'we never knew' about child abuse at Catholic institutions
It’s a common refrain that widespread abuse was only exposed in recent decades – but the real story is very different, writes Fin Dwyer.