The committee set up to examine the Irish government’s role with the notorious Magdalene laundries has recently been asked to include the Bethany Home in their inquiry.
The home was for unwed mothers and their children, and survivors say the abuse there was just as bad as in the laundries.
In an appeal to have the home looked into, Arlene Foster wrote the following to Senator Martin McAleese in hopes that he would spread the word to the government: “It would be wrong if these residents were not afforded the same investigation as those who formerly lived in the Magdalene laundries.”
The Protestant Bethany home was based in Rathgar between 1921 and 1972. Although there were health inspections, the home ran for over 50 years, and recently there was a discovery of unmarked infant graves in a cemetery nearby nearby, indicating the level of abuse and poor care for the new babies. Currently, there are between 25-30 known survivors, both the children of the mothers and the unwed mothers themselves.
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Read more:
Documentary on the Magdalene Laundries aired for the first time on Irish TV - VIDEO
Campaigners for the Magdalene Laundries meet with Minister for Justice
Exhumed records shows Dublin customers of the Magdalene Laundries
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According to the Irish Times, Niall Meehan, representative of the Bethany Survivor’s Group, said that there was “no doubt in his mind” that if the Bethany Home was not included in the state inquiry, that would “constitute discrimination on behalf of the state towards a Protestant minority,” since the home was Protestant-run. Such discrimination is a direct violation of Article 44.3 in the Constitution.
“The State had an irrefutable duty of care which they fell down on,” Meehan claimed. He also said that the state lied in both cases regarding its culpability in sending young women there.
Senator David Norris has also acknowledged the strong similarities between the two homes with, “[Bethany Home is] exactly analogous to that of the Magdalene laundries.”
By including the Bethany Home, the state would have more information regarding the abuses that took place in such institutions. Despite the pleas, however, Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has said that there is no plan to include the Bethany Home in the inquiry.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.2BorNot2B | Nov 09, 2011, 12:49 AM EST
I hear crickets from the side of those who never miss a chance to dump on the CC for sins real, perceived, imagined or otherwise attributed. Where the hell is that rabid harridan JuneAnnette? What about her echo chamber, the eerieOne? Oh I forgot... this is a half-assed story about the misdeeds of prots. You know, they are not as interesting or deep pocketted as the Catholics. Their piddly sects only amount to a few hundred, and that's only when they manage to get a snake-oil salesman/preacher that keeps them entertained for an hour or so, between demands for 'love offerings' and 'prayer partnerships'
seanomelbourne | Aug 03, 2011, 07:11 PM EDT
Well may your lord of light help you,but he failed to help the abused children of Ireland
oldboreen | Aug 03, 2011, 01:56 PM EDT
Let us all wait now for this alleged abuse at Bethany Home to be conveniently buried-political correctness and all that!
Searlit | Aug 03, 2011, 10:47 AM EDT
It's about justice for the survivors of extreme abuse and neglect. We're all human beings, here. Can't we look beyond the labels that we call ourselves. If we have the opportunity to right a wrong then we need to take it. Compassion heals the giver, as well as the receiver.
Ms.Gail | Aug 03, 2011, 01:39 AM EDT
It seems there is plenty of saddness to go around.Let the Lord of Light shine upon the darkness.
cillowen | Aug 02, 2011, 08:20 PM EDT
make em proddy. manage if you can, your own affairs - old erin murdered the dreams their own children with their backward ways. Then the gall of imagining themselves being civilized. Poor souls fleeing across the globe to survive.
seanomelbourne | Aug 02, 2011, 06:44 PM EDT
Child abuse knows no religious boundaries
LilPaddy | Aug 02, 2011, 05:03 PM EDT
on June 7-2011 The wife and I bought (and paid in full for) a property in County Cavan; and on June 8, we "irrevocably" dedicated it to the memory of the victims of 9-11, the Irish Institutions (which includes The Magdalene Ladies) And as of this moment The Bethany Home Ladies of Rathgar (which is about 4 miles from our Irish home) are welcomed as equally honored Sisters of our "extending" Irish Family.....
SingleDonald | Aug 02, 2011, 12:33 PM EDT
I agree! Protestant abuse should be investigated & prosecuted to the same extent as Catholic abuse!
Springfield9 | Aug 02, 2011, 10:44 AM EDT
In New York we just had two (former) Nuns marry. Nothing surprises me any more.
IAPRINCESS | Aug 02, 2011, 10:30 AM EDT
Go for it. The abuse is everywhere.
rainbowbrew | Aug 02, 2011, 10:30 AM EDT
I agree let light shine on all abuse.
joan1954 | Aug 02, 2011, 09:36 AM EDT
So we are looking again at discrimination in a form of anything that remotely involved Catholics as bad and its okay that the Protestants had the same things but they weren't bad. Come on people get real, there was abuse in that ethos as well. What is fair on one side should be handled on the other as well?