The possibility of the HSE running prison healthcare services instead of the Irish Prison Service (IPS) is currently under discussion, the UN Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) has heard.

Penal reformers have expressed concern over reported degrading ‘initiation’ rites for young adults in prisons, involving urination and defecation.

Ireland has been criticised for the “significant gaps” in its protection of human rights, according to a report submitted to the UN.

The UN has again criticised the refusal by the four orders than ran the Magdalene laundries to offer any money towards compensating survivors.

A number of Magdalene survivors have been offered state compensation payments reflecting much shorter lengths of stay than the women endured.

Justice For Magdalenes (JFM) Research has hit out at the Government’s response to UN criticism’s of the McAleese report as “an outrage” which “beggars belief”.

There was a mixed reaction among Magdalene Laundry survivors and representative groups to the recommendations in the Quirke Report.

Kathleen Whelan was one of about a dozen former Magdalene laundry survivors who travelled to Cork’s City Hall to meet the Lord Mayor as he signed a book of apologies for the women.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter has roundly defended the McAleese Report into the Magdalene Laundries saying it was “an independent, comprehensive factual account”.

The UN committee which forced the Government to investigate the Magdalene Laundries has criticised the McAleese report into them as “incomplete” and lacking “many elements of a prompt, independent, and thorough investigation”.

The survivors advocacy group, Justice for Magdalenes, has announced the end of its political campaign as its twin objectives of an official state apology and the establishment of a compensation scheme have been achieved.

There were scenes of joy and gratitude outside Leinster House last night as victims cheered and whooped following the Taoiseach’s apology for the State and the people of Ireland’s involvement in the Magdalene laundries.

TOMORROW’S Magdalene laundries’ report is the last chance the 1,000 or so survivors still alive have to get the public vindication they crave.

The Government’s response to the UN Committee Against Torture recommendations on the Magdalene Laundries issue has been termed “cynical” and “disingenuous”.

Justice for Magdalenes is to submit over 500 pages of newly gathered survivor testimony to Senator Martin McAleese — testimony in which women say they were imprisoned in Magdalene laundries and had worked without pay.

The Justice for Magdalenes group said today that survivors of abuse are still waiting for an apology, one year on from a UN reccommendation.

Justice for Magdalenes (JFM) has hit out at the Government’s failure to provide redress and an independent investigation into the abuse carried out in Magdalene Laundries.

JUSTICE Minister Alan Shatter is under pressure to announce an inquiry into the detention and abuse of women at the Magdalene Laundries after the UN criticised the state’s failure to protect the women and called for a thorough investigation and compensation scheme.

TORTURE is a strong word.

AN INDEPENDENT and effective complaints body such as a prison ombudsman must be established to ensure prisoners are protected from ill-treatment and from reprisals as a consequence of their complaints, the UN Committee Against Torture has recommended.

THE campaign for justice for the Magdalenes, for the so-called “fallen women” who were grossly mistreated in a chain of laundries run by nuns, has been resoundingly vindicated by the call for an independent investigation into the scandal from the United Nations Committee Against Torture (UNCAT).

EVERY woman TD, senator and local councillor received a letter today urging them to support the ongoing campaign to seek justice for survivors of the Magdalene laundries.

A UN committee urged the Government to set up an independent investigation into human rights violations in the Magdalene Laundries and give redress to the women who suffered because of the institutions.

THE advocacy group seeking justice for women kept at Magdalene laundries will today take their campaign to the United Nations Committee Against Torture.