Taoiseach Delivers State Apology to Magdalene Women
By Michael Brennan
ENDA KENNY broke into tears as he made an historic and emotionally-charged state apology to survivors of the Magdalene laundries. The Taoiseach received a standing ovation in parliament after he described the Catholic-run workhouses as the "nation's shame" and accepted the state's direct involvement. "I, as Taoiseach, on behalf of the state, the Government and our citizens deeply regret and apologise unreservedly to all those women for the hurt that was done to them, and for any stigma they suffered, as a result of the time they spent in a Magdalene Laundry," Mr Kenny said. Twenty women who were locked up in one of the laundries watched with bated breath from the public gallery. They held hands tightly and wept as the Taoiseach made his tearful apology. Maureen Sullivan, who was 12 when she was sent to a Magdalene laundry when her father died, said Mr Kenny had given survivors their lives back. "He didn't hold back on anything," Ms Sullivan said. "He really did us proud. Now we can go on with our lives and we know that we've got an apology, and he's taken responsibility. It's just fantastic." He had come under fire for failing to apolgoise two weeks ago when former Senator Martin McAleese’s 1,000-page report into State involvement in the Magdalene Laundries was published. But in the Dail, Mr Kenny delivered a clear state apology to the 10,000 women who had been in the country’s ten Magdalene Laundries. He said there never would have been any need for institutions such as the Magdalen Laundries in a society guided by the principles of compassion and social justice.
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