A Carlow survivor of the Magdalene Laundries says a “proper apology” still needs to be made by one local religious order for those who came through Mother and Baby Homes.
Maureen Sullivan was one of the youngest girls to be sent to the institutions, as she was 12 years old when she was sent to the Magdalene Laundry in New Ross.
She has slammed the Sisters of St John of God, who deny that they have any records of the Kilkenny County Home, or the people buried at the Thomastown site – read that statement here:
Maureen says the order, who provided health care at the local Home, should have taken more responsibility telling KCLR “Well, I’ll tell you what I found in that statement that it just again they seem to have it’s like if they have a god-given right to get out of it and not a proper apology was made there, they are responsible, they did have the papers and they handed them over and if they handed them over can’t they get them handed back and hand them out to the people that need them”.
Maureen also believes the order’s withholding some information, saying “I know loads of survivors that ring me and they cannot get their own birth certs and that’s against the Constitution of Ireland, that was against the law, to keep these people from having the rights of their birth cert, that is your right and that basic little right was taken away from them”.
She’s organised an online meeting to take place from 7pm this Thursday to acknowledge “the forgotten children” of the Mother and Baby Homes scandal.
She’s been telling KCLR what happened to the children who were adopted out of the Mother and Baby Homes, noting “Little innocent children out to strange countries where they had no one belonging to them, not even their own nationality and these children are very, very badly damaged and they’re in a lot of pain and that has inflicted more pain on them when they seen the apology given does not include them, that’s why I’m having this meeting, I’m going to bring this up stronger and make sure they’re not forgotten because these are the forgotten children”.
Meanwhile, read what Archbishop Elect of Dublin & Administrator of Ossory Dermot Farrell had to say in his Homily at St Mary’s Cathedral yesterday, Sunday 17 January here
