Irish support group calls for Government apology

THE IRISH Government should follow the example of the Australian prime minister by singling out the forgotten Irish victims of abuse and giving them an apology, the Templemore Forgotten Victims group said yesterday.

Dr Rosaleen Rogers, chairwoman of the support group, said the Ryan report had focused on children in residential institutions but did not consider the fate of those who were detained in psychiatric institutions, Magdalene laundries or had been sent abroad.

She said these children were truly the forgotten victims and deserved an apology from the Government.

Dr Rogers, originally from Co Tipperary, was detained in a psychiatric institution when she was 16 and sent to Britain three years later. She set up the support group to help others in a similar situation.

“There are probably thousands like me,” she said. “I’m speaking for not only those who are alive.”

She said many cases were never heard about because people died on the streets abroad or spent their lives in psychiatric institutions.

Christine Buckley of the Aislinn support group said it was difficult to put a figure on the number of Irish children sent to care institutions or for adoption to countries such as Britain, the US, Canada and Australia. “But after the news in Australia, our phone will probably start ringing with people wanting to tell their stories,” she said.

The Department of Education said it had no information on the number of Irish children sent abroad.

One in Four chief executive Maeve Lewis said it was also not clear how many of the thousands of children sent from Britain to Australia had Irish parents.

She welcomed Mr Rudd’s intervention and said such apologies “mean an awful lot to people who have experienced trauma”.

It was important that their pain was acknowledged in a public way, Ms Lewis added.

Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Taoiseach Brian Cowen have both apologised on behalf of the State for the abuse suffered by children in residential institutions.