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Group formed to expose slavery in Ireland national |
crime and justice |
news report
 Wednesday July 21, 2004 15:46 by Cliona Towne
 Justice for Magdalenes A group has been formed to force the Irish State and the Catholic church to accept responsibility for the enslavement of 40,000 Irish women during the last century. The women were incarcerated and forced to work as slaves in the infamous Magdalene laundaries. They were physically and psychologically abused. Many died in mysterious circumstances. Some may have been murdered. They are buried in unmarked graves. This atrocity was committed by the Catholic Church aided and abetted by the Irish state. Before reparations can be made it is necessary that these two institutions be made acknowledge the enormity of the crime committed against these women. Unless the isssue of slavery in Ireland is acknowledged by the perpetrators and reparations made to the victims Irish concern about human rights abuses elsewhere cannot be taken seriously. The group is called Justice for Magdalenes and is led by Claire McGettrick.
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Comments (15 of 15)
Jump To Comment: 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1the six counties would have been enslaved had it not been for partition!
Hi,
My name is Claire McGettrick and I am Acting PRO with Justice for Magdalenes, the group you have been speaking about.
We have a Yahoo Group (also called Justice for Magdalenes) where we discuss how we can achieve justice for women who were imprisoned in Magdalene Laundries. Anyone who wants to help is more than welcome to join, but please note that there are Magdalene survivors in the group and our purpose is to fight *with* them for justice and not treat them as helpless victims, so anyone joining should bear that in mind. The address is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/justice_for_magdalenes
For further information you can contact me at [email protected] or visit http://www.magdalenelaundries.com
Kind regards,
Claire McGettrick
I repeat-
"Put very simply, there were _no changes_ to social policy, wages, union relations, cultural policy unless the RC in the form of Mc Quaid had _previously_ cleared the proposals."
Now if "dev" can name *one* change to social policy, wages, union relations or cultural policy during the period Mc Quaid occupied the Archbishops palace which was opposed by the RC church, I'll send him/her a rabbit.
{It's a very cute rabbit, vegetarian, brown, affectionate, it's previous owner had problems with drugs and techno music. and the poor thing is in my household in the meantime}
Utterly simplistic nonsense. There were massive social changes in the 26 Counties from the 1930s up to the early 70s under FF governments which were opposed by the Catholic Church. Your reference to that self important egomaniac loser Browne says it all really. Who in fact introduced the proposal that Browne fucked up? No point in asking you so I'll tell you. It was the FF govt that took over from the disastrous coalition that included Browne. I'd advise you to read some proper history before you go making such ill founded comments. And by the way, I hate FF but hate playschool lefty history even more.
By the catholic church
Colm O'Gorman has a personal salary of €80,000 a year. I wouldn't say no to that!
U2's donation which made the headlines as helping to cover the shortfall in government funding (our taxes) was half that amount.
C`mon you`re been a bit insensitive.
Who gives a fuck? I'm sick of listening to these whingers. There was been ZERO analysis of this issue, and who is really to blame. The issue of abuse has been decontextualized from history and the repressive, secretive disposition of the Catholic Church and Irish Society due to occupation and domination. For Christ's sake, apologies, handouts from the state and even more another "pressure group" makes no difference to reality. The abused have to take responsibility for their own recovery. These professional victim-cult lobby groups have their own agendas and NO interest in the abused, only their own narcissstic egomania. Let's see some debate on the financial accountability of the One in Four group for a start.
Fianna fail are and have always been subservient to the Roman popery.If the church of ireland had of committed these abuses would they have gotten away with it as lightly?
And it ought be required reading for everyone.
Basically De Valera's Eire constitution paved the way for a period of almost forty years virtual theocracy in the 26 counties. This peaked during Mc Quaid's tenure s archbishop of dublin, a period during which the RC heirarchy were allowed extra-ordinary privelage in determining the progress of legislation, ostensibly in a "consultative capacity" this inteference would be unthinkable in today's society. Put very simply, there were _no changes_ to social policy, wages, union relations, cultural policy unless the RC in the form of Mc Quaid had _previously_ cleared the proposals.
For the majority of this period, the general public remained unaware and it must be remembered mostly uninterested in this technically practise which was a breach of the constituion. This in no way belittles the attempts made to fight the RC church on many issues, Noel Brown's "mother and child" act was the most notorious clash.
Adoption malpractise was rife from the foundation of the Free State, and worsened under the Eire state reaching an arguable low in the mid 1960s. The first attempts to enforce legislation and outlaw the worst human right abuses which had been "tolerated" by society were made with the growth of the Irish Feminist and not unconnected "Irish secularism" at the close of the 1960s but it was not until 1974 (!?!) that the appaling human rights abuse of stealing children and putting them up for adoption without a state adoption board or licensed partner being mediator was outlawed.
The RC church has a lot to answer for.
Not just as the authority that _employed_ and housed single mothers, but also as the organisation that actively campaigned from 1936 to 1974 (at the very least) to keep that as "a Irish solution and a catholic solution".
And there are estimated to be 200,000 people alive today who's mothers were either inmates of MM homes, or passed through the RC convent orders who arranged adoption in those countries where they offered that "catholic solution". [Ireland north and south and Scotland].
I wish you the best with this campaign.
Please post contact details and any additional information. There are no shortage of people who would assist you.
Stephen, yes, the state and families are to blame to a big extent, but it was the nuns who tortured and exploitd these poor women for years and years. And no nun has been charged yet
Stephen, we can pass the book in circular circles for ever, but the perpetraters of such heinous crimes on humanity should be named and shamed as part of the process of exposure and not forgotten as 'its in the past' Simply brushing responsibility under the beuracratic carpet in order not to further embarress the catholic church is a sin in itself!
Wouldnt you better off rather than chasing old nuns, to find out what state mechanism's allowed minors to be placed in these situations? and what of the parents who consented to the removal of thier own children? Its stupid and irresponsible to just use this as another catholic witch-hunt.
it`s great to hear about such a group forming.I used to work with women who were abuse victims of the nuns,it`s high time people stood up for them.
Can we have some contact details?
Is there e're a chance you could post some contact details? That would be useful for people wishing to join/support etc.
And if you happen to set up a website don't forget to post the url.
Good luck with your project.