Christine Buckley's Husband: "She Was a Warrior against Injustice and for People's Rights and Dignity"

Irish Independent
March 11, 2014

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/christine-buckleys-husband-she-was-a-warrior-against-injustice-and-for-peoples-rights-and-dignity-30082592.html

Christine Buckley

Christine Buckley, the courageous campaigner for victims of institutional abuse, has passed away after a long illness.

This morning, her husband said his beloved wife's proudest achievement was her work with the Aislinn Centre.

Christine campaigned tirelessly on behalf of victims of institutional abuse for more than 25 years.

Donal Buckley told Newstalk's Pat Kenny that Mrs Buckley helped many people to gain a basic - or in some cases third level - education through the centre, which she co-founded.

"From the people that attended the Aislinn Centre, she could see how so many of them were able to turn their lives around," Mr Buckley told Pat Kenny.

"Some of them were so grateful for the support she had given them in getting proper homes, for some cases, going onto university education in a couple of cases, and basic literary skills in other cases because people weren't able to read and write."

Mr Buckley said his wife had battled cancer for many years, but it returned again last September.

"She'd been battling with shingles and then battling with the return of cancer after remission again since September."

"Before that, she'd had cancer over 30 years."

"She was in remission until 13 or 14 years ago until she got breast cancer. She was in various stages of remission since then but unfortunately she wasn't able to fight anymore."

Mr Buckley described the late campaigner as a warrior against injustices.

She spoke privately about her own personal experiences in 1984, and then went public in 1992.

"She was a warrior for people to try and trace their parents. She was a warrior for injustice. She was a warrior for education and the benefits education can bring to people."

"She was a warrior for, most of all, people like her who spent time in industrial institutions."

Mrs Buckley was conferred with a Doctor in Laws (LL.D) from Trinity College last December.

"She was thrilled with that because her father had gone to Trinity."

"She had always wanted to be either in the medical profession or the legal profession, and Trinity gave her a doctorate of laws so she had the best of both worlds in a way." "She was called a doctor - not that she used the title - but she was thrilled with it."