The Irish Thalidomide Association (ITA) committee will meet Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris on Wednesday evening in Government Buildings, following demands for an apology.
Thalidomide mother Mary Clarken, who is 95, said she is hoping to receive a State apology after sending a letter in 2024 to the then taoiseach Harris seeking one.
In her letter, posted in July, she wrote “leaving thalidomide on the market long after it should have been removed was a shameful and reprehensible act which brought unnecessary pain and suffering to many newborns and their families.
“Everybody knows that healing can only properly begin with an apology. Even 60 years of trauma can be erased by a heartfelt, ‘we’re sorry’. To refuse one now, is to extend the trauma, the hurt, the feeling of exclusion suffered by thalidomide survivors indefinitely.”
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Thalidomide was a drug developed in the 1950s as a sedative or a tranquilliser that was promoted to treat morning sickness during pregnancy.
It was withdrawn from most markets in 1961 following widespread evidence it was linked to birth defects.
Many children were born without limbs or with shortened limbs, with hearing and vision impairment and injuries to internal organs.
However, it was sold in Ireland until 1964.
“Our parents are in the forefront of our thoughts as we strive for justice,” the ITA said in a statement.
“For over 60 years, Irish Thalidomide Survivors have waited for a truthful explanation of why the State did what they did to thalidomide children.
“In years of research, we now know the misogynistic and deliberate decision taken by the Irish State not to credit Irish women in the 1960s with the ability to make the right choices for themselves and their families,” it said.
It described thalidomide as a “wrecking ball to the embryo”.
There are about 40 thalidomide survivors in Ireland, all aged in their 60s.
Speaking before Wednesday’s meeting, the association’s spokeswoman Finola Cassidy said they will continue to express concern over the health of members and members increasing in age.
“Movement and momentum needs to continue now,” she said.
She also said they hope to get a process of how survivors could be acknowledged as well as addressing delays.
“No one else should die without an apology,” said Cassidy.
