Justice for Magdalenes helps organise survivor meeting with Senator McAleese
Justice for Magdalenes (JFM), the survivor advocacy group is pleased
to confirm that a group of Magdalene survivors in contact with the
organisation met today with Senator Martin McAleese, Independent
Chairperson of the Inter-departmental Committee to “clarify state
interaction with the Magdalene Laundries”. JFM says that the meeting
was a deliberately private event, in accordance with the wishes of the
women and consistent with the organisation’s ethos to put the dignity
and privacy of survivors first.
Katherine O’Donnell, Director of Women’s Studies at UCD’s School of
Social Justice/JFM Advisory Committee said: “As the Magdalene
Laundries system served to disempower and silence women, it is vital
that survivors actively participate in the Inter-departmental
Committee process. Apart from the vast level of valuable knowledge
that survivors possess, it is also essential that those most affected
are offered a voice at the table.”
Women travelled to Dublin from all over Ireland for today’s meeting.
The survivors participating included daughters of two women
incarcerated in Magdalene Laundries and now deceased. Both women said
they wished to give their mothers a voice as well as highlighting the
generational impact on families of the Magdalene Laundry system and
the importance of end of life issues.
Last week JFM submitted its first tranche of testimonies amounting to
519 pages which included contributions from a number of the survivors
meeting with Senator McAleese today. JFM says that the women’s
testimony was collected with their full and informed consent, under
ethical approval from UCD’s College of Human Sciences in accordance
with the highest human-subject research standards.
Claire McGettrick, JFM PRO said: “In the testimonies already
gathered, all survivors told us that they could not leave the
laundries, that the doors were locked and the windows inaccessible.
If they did try to leave they were returned by the Gardaí, while
others decided not to try to escape because they knew the same fate
awaited them. They all told us they could not complain, in most
cases they remarked that there was nobody to complain to; while others
begged to leave, often on a daily basis, but all were refused. Every
single survivor confirmed that they were never paid, that no
inspections were ever carried out and that no government official ever
came to check on them.”
James M. Smith (Boston College and JFM Advisory Committee) said: “JFM
welcomes the input of survivors into the Interdepartmental Committee
investigation and while JFM will continue to cooperate with that
process, we assert that there is ample evidence of state involvement
with the Magdalene Laundries to warrant an immediate apology, pensions
and restoring lost wages to this group of aging and elderly women.
They need help now while still alive to benefit from it.”
JFM thanks Senator McAleese for agreeing to meet the women today, and
thanks him once again for the time, respect and consideration he
accorded them.
PLEASE NOTE: JFM did not issue an advance press release in keeping
with our ethos to protect the dignity and privacy of survivors, so
that they can choose when and how they wish to make their experiences
known more publically.
[ENDS]
