Government approves plan for 'national site of conscience' at former Magdalene laundry

Teddy bears and a pair of children's shoes among memorabilia placed at the site of the former Bessborough mother and baby home in Cork. The new centre in Dublin is intended to honour survivors of such institutions. File picture: Larry Cummins

There has been a mixed reaction to a new National Centre for Research and Remembrance for survivors of Ireland's institutions.

The Government has approved plans for a “national site of conscience” which will open at the former Magdalene laundry on Sean McDermott St in Dublin.

The centre is intended to act "as a site of conscience to honour equally all those who were resident in Industrial Schools, Magdalen Laundries, Mother and Baby Institutions, Reformatories, and related institutions". 

Diane Croghan was just eight years old when she was incarcerated in the Summerhill Laundry in Co Wexford. The now 83-year-old has welcomed the news.

“I think it would be important to remember what happened,” she told the Irish Examiner. 

It’s for the next generation to learn about the wrongs that happened. Survivors should not be forgotten. 

"When you think about it, the only place really in Dublin is that building [Sean McDermott St]. There’s nothing really left of these places.

“Definitely it was wrong, what went on, but I have gotten on with my life and in order to get on with my life I have to be a forgiving person.

"I forgive but of course I don’t forget.” 

Survivor David Kinsella would prefer if the centre were at another location: 'St Patrick’s on the Navan Rd in Dublin will be my sacred place, where my mother walked. I would prefer it was there. File picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

However, David Kinsella, who was four years old when he was adopted from St Patrick’s mother and baby home, where he had been kept as an infant from 1958 to 1962, said he would prefer if the new centre was elsewhere.  

“Every survivor will have their view and sacred ground where the mother walked and lived," he said.  

But, for me, St Patrick’s on the Navan Rd in Dublin will be my sacred place, where my mother walked. I would prefer it was there. 

The remembrance centre was promised by the Government as part of an action plan following the publication of the Commission of Inquiry into mother and baby homes in January 2021.

It will include a museum and exhibition space, a research centre, and a remembrance garden.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar described it as “extremely important” for honouring those who suffered institutional trauma.

“As well as recognising and learning from our past, we are taking the opportunity to help build a brighter future for the community of the north east inner city," he said

“It is entirely fitting that the National Centre for Research and Remembrance serves as a linchpin for wider development of the campus to benefit the local community including social housing; a lifelong learning hub for further and higher education; and facilities for community-based family and parenting services.”