Apology to Survivors of Institutional Abuse
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has issued a formal apology to survivors of institutional abuse during a session in the Dail, the Irish parliament. It is estimated that approximately 4,000 individuals in Ireland have survived abuse in institutional settings.
Previously, in 1999, then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern delivered a State apology to victims of institutional abuse. However, advocates and campaigners have since called for further clarification to ensure that no survivor should carry a criminal record solely due to their placement in industrial or reformatory schools.
"I want to unequivocally apologise to you and reiterate on behalf of the Government, the State, and all the citizens of the State, the profound sorrow for the terrible pain and abuse suffered by you,"said Martin in the Dail.
"What you endured on a daily basis as innocent children was harrowing, heart breaking and wrong."
The government has committed to issuing certificates that confirm the status of criminal records for individual survivors, including those who are deceased.
Hunger Strike by Survivors
Last year, four survivors of abuse in industrial and reformatory schools undertook a hunger strike lasting 51 days. The participants were Miriam Moriarty Owens, Mary Donovan, Maurice Patton O'Connell, and Mary Dunlevy Greene.
Miriam Moriarty Owens shared her experience of institutional abuse with BBC Northern Ireland. She was removed from her mother at the age of one.
"As soon as you entered those doors… first of all they took your name away and they gave you a number, like: 'You're a prisoner now, you're a convict, you're a criminal.' They took your personality away. They took your dignity, they took your everything. They owned you.
As soon as you walked, you worked, and that's the way we did and that's the way our lives were.
The government of today should recognise the children that suffered under their care. But they didn't care about us."
Impact and Health Issues
Moriarty Owens, who is from County Kerry, reported ongoing health problems following the hunger strike, including kidney and chest infections.
She described the hunger strikers, aged between their 50s and 70s, subsisting on "water, milk, vitamins and tea" throughout the 51-day strike.
"We shouldn't have been left there for 37 seconds, no mind 51 days.
We were never criminals. They criminalised us as children. We did nothing wrong. We did nothing wrong. I'm so happy today I am going up to the Dail and they have to stand there and apologise to us - rightfully so."
Government Support Package
The Irish government has also agreed on a support package for survivors. This package includes health supports through dedicated liaison officers, education grants, prioritisation for social housing, and assistance with funeral costs.
