Picture via Facebook
Yesterday, 220 women gathered for a historic event at Mansion House.
These women travelled from the UK, US, and Australia to receive apologies from the government that previously turned a blind eye to their suffering.
The survivors were honoured at a garden party at Áras an Uachtaráin hosted by President Michael D Higgins and later attended a gala dinner at Mansion House, the Irish Examiner reports.
“I apologise to you, survivors of the Magdalene regime,” President Higgins told the women.
It is believed that at least 10,000 women passed through the doors of Magdalene Laundries in Ireland from 1922 to 1996.
The President acknowledged how women were failed by the State which should have 'had your welfare at its core'.
Emotional scenes as Magdalene Laundry survivors arrive at Dublin’s Mansion House @morningireland pic.twitter.com/S2tpDpYwLa
— Aisling Kenny (@KennyAKE) 5 June 2018
“A combination of stigma, shame and an unreceptive society condemned so many women to concealing their experiences, their trauma, their hurt," Higgins noted in his speech.
“In recent years the silence has been broken and you all have helped to let the light into some very dark corners of Ireland’s shared past."
He later continued, “You were failed by Governments that knowingly relied on the existence and practices of these institutions rather than addressing your particular needs in other, more sympathetic ways.
“You were also failed by a society that actively colluded by their silence in your incarceration and treatment or chose to look the other way, averted their gaze, as vulnerable girls and women were subjected, in so many cases, to further abuse and degradation.
“Ireland failed you. When you were vulnerable and in need of the support of Irish society and its institutions, its authorities did not cherish you, protect you, respect your dignity or meet your needs and so many in the wider society colluded with all that through their silence.”
Photos:
— President of Ireland (@PresidentIRL) 6 June 2018
President and Sabina Higgins hosted a special event for women who worked in the Magdalene Laundries.https://t.co/z9ZH5HHE5q pic.twitter.com/wBg2A1KlIH
The day helped bring the women together so they could be honoured, but also so they could meet one another.
Norah Casey, ambassador for Dublin Honours Magdalenes, said, “This event is not about celebration, it’s about dignity and respect.”
There was another occasion held today as well: a 'listening exercise' in which the survivors can discuss what happened to them and how they want this dark chapter in Ireland's history to be remembered.
One woman, Mary Smith said she was 'locked up' in one of the laundries along with her mother, Eileen, and emphasised how her life was never the same because of what she experienced.
“This has left me shattered for the rest of my life," she said, "I’ve come here for justice for the people who suffered.”
Survivor Elizabeth Coppin shared her thought on the laundries, saying, "I believe the Irish government and the church were in collusion with each other.
"We're talking about Eastern European trafficking but her in the western free-world of Ireland, they were way ahead of that.
"They still won't admit they trafficked us, they still won't admit they violated our human rights."
The survivors are being supported through a redress scheme, which over the weekend was extended to 14 additional institutions.
Charlie Flanagan, the Minister for Justice, delivered a speech at the event. He stated, “To say that I am privileged and humbled to be standing here tonight is an understatement.
“To be frank, it is also a difficult and daunting place for me to stand. It’s difficult, because I am only too aware that as a Government minister I represent the State which let each and every one of you down. This State allowed you be incarcerated, and made to work in Magdalene Laundries."
