Apology Row Follows Publication Of Magdalene Report

A new report has lifted the lid on the slave-like conditions to which Irish women were subjected at the Magdalene Laundries between 1922 to 1996.

But a political row over Taoiseach Enda Kenny's refusal so far to issue a formal apology on behalf of the state, is threatening to cast a cloud on the vindication felt by survivors of the laundries in the wake of its publication.

The report, which was written by Senator Martin McAleese, husband of former president Mary McAleese, was compiled by an inter-department committee.

It looked at ten institutions run by four religious orders: The Sisters of Our Lady of Charity, the Mercy Sisters, the Sisters of Charity and the Good Shepherd Sisters.

Around 11,500 women passed through the institutions over eight decades.

Most (61%) spent less than a year there, and the average age of their entry was 24 years old.

Senator McAleese said the women found the environment in the laundries to be lonely and frightening.

The work they were required to do was "harsh and physically demanding", and the psychological impact of working there was "undoubtedly dramatic and lasting."

"For many of them, an inability to share their story in the years after their time in a Magdalene laundry has only added to the confusion and pain about that period of their lives," he writes in the introduction to the report.

However, most of the women who gave evidence to the inquiry said the ill treatment, physical and sexual abuse that was prevalent in the industrial schools at the time was not part of their experience.

The women were subjected to verbal abuse, including humiliating put downs, from the nuns.

Despite the widespread perception that the religious orders were profiting from the laundries, the report found that they operated on a break-even basis.

But the women carrying out the work did not get paid salaries for their gruelling work.

The State was responsible for sending 26.5% of the women there - by court order, Gardai, social services or under supervision having left industrial schools or reformatories.

11% were placed there by their families, usually under pressure from local religious figures, and priests directly placed 9% of them there.

16% were considered as "self referrals".

The report found no evidence that unmarried girls had babies in the laundries, or that many of the women were prostitutes.

It said the stigma attached to many of the laundries past residents as "fallen women" was unfair.

Women and girls referred there from industrials schools and other non State agencies did not know why they were being sent there or for how long they were expected to stay.

The four religious orders who ran the institutions refused to give radio or television interviews after the publication of the report but they did issue written statements.

The Religious Sisters of Charity apologised "unreservedly to any woman who experienced hurt while in our care."

"In good faith we provided refuge for women at our Magdalene Homes in Donnybrook and Peacock Lane. Some of the women spent a short time with us; some left, returned and left again and some still live with us," they said

The Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of Refuge said: "It is with sorrow and sadness that we recognise that for many of those who spoke to the inquiry that their time in a refuge is associated with anxiety, distress, loneliness, isolation, pain and confusion and much more."

The Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy said: "We wish that we could have done more and that it could have been different. It is regrettable that the Magdalene Homes had to exist at all."

The Good Shepherd Sisters said: "We were part of the system and the culture of the time. We acted in good faith providing a refuge and we sincerely regret that women could have experienced hurt and hardship during their time with us."

Speaking in the Dail, Taoiseach Enda Kenny expressed regret but stopped short of the full apology which many had expected.

"I am sorry that so many women worked and were resident in Magdalene laundries in a very harsh and authoritarian environment," he said.

"I want to see that those women who are still with us, anywhere between 800 and 1,000 at max, that we should see that the State provides for them with the very best of facilities and supports that they need in their lives."

But the TV and radio airwaves were dominated following the report by Magdalene survivors who were upset that the apology did not go far enough.

They outlined in harrowing detail their own experiences in the laundries.

Later in the week, the Taoiseach and Tanaiste agreed to meet surivors ahead of a Dail debate on the matter next week.

"We intend to have a direct discussion with them about what their needs are, about how government should respond to this report," Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore said.

"These women have suffered. What they endured was wrong. What happened in this country over those decades was appalling and this Government has heard these women and we have taken what they have to say seriously."

The development was welcomed by representatives of the survivors.

Steven O'Riordan, head of Magdalene Survivors Together, said: "The women believe it's significantly important that they meet directly with the Taoiseach. They feel that by relaying their stories personally he will recognise the importance of giving a full apology.

"I am optimistic a State apology will come in two weeks. I think he will do the right thing."