FALLOUT OVER CALL FOR STATE APOLOGY TO MAGDALENE WOMEN

Date Published: 06-Feb-2013

Sinn Féin has commended the Labour party TDs who are calling on the Taoiseach to apologise to the survivors of the Magdalene laundries.

The junior health minister Kathleen Lynch and a number of Labour backbenchers want the government to apologise to the women.

It follows the publication of the McAleese report yesterday, which showed clear evidence of state involvement in the operation of the laundries.

The Sisters of Mercy ran the Magdalen laundry at Forster street in the city which closed in 1984.

The congregation only had partial records for the home which could not be included in the report as they weren’t representative of all admissions to the laundry.

Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald says the comments of Labour TDs today show a clear division between the government parties.