Accepting a justice award from Labour Youth, Justice for Magdalene’s Claire McGettrick said recent reports that the women may have to face the religious orders at a reconciliation forum caused “terror” among survivors.
“I have to wonder, in the words of An Taoiseach on Feb 19, if we as a nation have once again ‘put away our conscience’.
Survivors have had their trust irreparably broken and yet they trust too easily and submit to authority, often to unscrupulous individuals… Their selfless nature makes them easy prey.
“There are some who would have the women accept a token gesture, just enough to make them go quietly into their final days. A nice easy solution, taken care of behind closed doors — or in plain sight, in a deal ‘done by media’,” she said.
Calling for a State-run dedicated helpline for the Magdalene Fund to be advertised within Ireland and by Irish diplomatic missions abroad, Ms McGettrick said a transparent redress scheme will require an appeals process, independent monitoring and would have to be established on a statutory basis.
Referring to the many survivors who remain institutionalised in the care of nuns, she asked whether a guardian ad litem and permanent independent advocate would be provided to guarantee their rights. “And will free independent advice and advocacy assistance be made available to survivors and their families, to protect the women from those who would take from them?” she said.
Justice for Magdalenes was awarded the Jim Kemmy Thirst for Justice award by Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore in Cork on Saturday night.