Irish PM told full apology to laundries women is required

Irish premier Enda Kenny was under increasing pressure yesterday to issue a full apology on behalf of the Irish state to victims of the Magdalene laundries.

Opposition and government politicians, as well as representatives of some of the estimated 11,500 women incarcerated in the laundries called on the Taoiseach to deliver a full state-backed apology.

A report released on Tuesday found that the laundries were “lonely and frightening places” where women, many of them unmarried mothers, were forced to work without pay and against their will between 1922 and 1996. Just over one quarter of referrals were made by or facilitated by the state.

Speaking in parliament yesterday, Mr Kenny said that the report by former senator Martin McAleese into the laundries “makes for harrowing reading in many respects” but stopped short of making a full apology.

Opposition politicians, including Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, Sinn Fein deputy leader Mary-Lou McDonald and Independent TD Mattie McGrath, called on the Irish leader to make a full apology on behalf of the state.