JUSTICE Minister Dermot Ahern has issued seven former residents of industrial schools with certificates to clarify they do not have a criminal record. Thousands had feared that time spent in industrial schools, often as young children, meant they had officially been branded as criminals.
Former mayor of Clonmel, Michael O'Brien, whose searing account of his time in St Joseph's Industrial School in that town on RTE's 'Questions and Answers' touched the nation, confirmed to the Irish Independent that he was among those sent a certificate.
Earlier this year, Children's Minister Barry Andrews invited former residents to write to the Justice Minister for a certificate that would officially confirm no criminal record existed.
Outlining his action plan in the wake of the Ryan report, which detailed the horrific abuse of children in these institutions, he said: "In the main, children were referred to industrial schools under Section 58 of the Children Act, 1908, which did not give rise to a criminal record.
"However, in recognition of the genuine concerns of survivors, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has undertaken that any individuals can write to him and his officials will look at the matter and, if required, will issue a certificate clarifying the position."
A spokesperson for the Department of Justice confirmed that seven of these certificates had now been issued.
The certificate states: "I, Dermot Ahern, in my capacity as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, do hereby certify that the State did not and does not regard X as a criminal and that no criminal conviction is recorded against X by virtue of her/his detention in X Industrial School.
"No person and, in particular, no agency of the State should regard X as in any way tainted by criminality because of detention in X Industrial School."
Mr O'Brien, who was committed to the school after his mother died, revealed how the fear he had been turned into a criminal had haunted him for many years and that he had believed he would not have been accepted to join the gardai as a result.
"When we met Taoiseach Brian Cowen I made it clear to him that people needed confirmation in black and white that they were not criminals," he said.
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