McAleese to chair probe into state’s Magdalene role

MARTIN McAleese will head an investigation into the state’s role in alleged abuse at the Magdalene laundries.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter appointed President Mary McAleese’s husband, a senator, to oversee a committee set up to clarify any state interaction with the notorious workhouses.

An international torture watchdog has urged a statutory inquiry involving the religious congregations that ran the homes, prosecutions where necessary and victim compensation.

But Mr Shatter stopped short of a full inquiry, saying there was a need to fully establish the facts and circumstances relating to the Magdalene laundries “as a first step”.

Mr McAleese confirmed he has agreed to be chairman of the Magdalene Laundries Inter-departmental Committee.

“I look forward to working with the committee and hope our report will make a valuable contribution to this issue,” he said.

The senator said he would make no further public comment until the committee’s work is complete. The group has been ordered to make an initial report to Cabinet within three months of its first meeting.

The four Catholic religious orders — The Sisters of Mercy, The Sisters of Our Lady of Charity, The Sisters of Charity, and The Good Shepherd Sisters — have agreed to co-operate with any inquiry.

The last laundry, at Sean McDermott Street in Dublin, closed in 1996.