Magdalene Survivors Together has criticised Justice John Quirke (above) for his handling of meetings yesterday with survivors.
Survivors ranging in age from 60 to 87 years were kept waiting for over 90 minutes.
One wheelchair-bound woman was unable to stay awake as she waited to see Justice Quirke.
From RTE:
Steven O’Riordan of Magdalene Survivors Together said that the women, who come from many parts of the country, had turned up a Dublin venue at 3.30pm as requested.
He said they were left waiting for over an hour-and-a-half before Mr Justice Quirke met any of them.
He said the women were asked about their current circumstances regarding family, work and housing and not about the kind of compensation scheme they wanted.Mr O’Riordan said that he found this confusing.
Justice Quirke, President of the Law Reform Commission, was commissioned to set up a redress scheme following the McAleese Report last month which identified the state was directly involved in running the laundries.
Some Magdalene survivors are still without pension books and others don’t know their next of kin.
In February the Taoiseach told the Dail:
“I am confident that this process will enable us to provide speedy, fair and meaningful help to the women in a compassionate and non adversial way.”
Ninety minutes.
RTE’s Drivetime report here. Scroll to 01:52:00
Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s Statement on Magdalene Report (Merrion Street)
