THE Government should set up an independent inquiry into cruelty at orphanages and organise a counselling service independent of the religious orders which ran the institutions, the film maker Louis Lentin said yesterday.
He called on those attending the One Happy Day celebration in Dublin yesterday to sign a petition calling on the Government to hold an independent inquiry into abuse at orphanages between 1950 and 1980.
The maker of the drama documentary which told the story of Goldenbridge orphans, Mr Lentia said the counselling offered to former residents of the home should not be organised by nuns. It should be conducted by an independent body and funded by the religious orders and Government and there should be a limit to the amount of counselling a person can receive, he said.
"I think they [the nuns] are very well intended, but I think it would make things so much easier for everybody if they did not have to go to the Sisters of Mercy or whoever it is. "It would be much much better if everybody who needs counselling could go to an independent body."
About 500 people attended yesterday's celebration. Flyers were distributed offering free legal advice and counselling, and there was an appeal for information about baby Marion Howe who was in Goldenbridge orphanage in 1955.
. Tomorrow's Prime Time programme on RTE 1 at 9.30 p.m. will feature an interview with Sister Xaviera (76), the former Reverend Mother at Goldenbridge.