Magdalene scandal - A just and swift remedy is required

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).

As with many other cases of abuse involving the religious orders and the secular clergy, this controversy has been compounded by institutional hypocrisy on the part both of the Church and the state in the face of compelling evidence that conditions in the laundries were often more akin to those of concentration camps.

Doubtless, it will be argued that Ireland already has more than its share of statutory inquiries and cannot afford yet another one in the current economic climate. However, that contention should not undermine the overwhelming case for a probe as recommended by the UN committee.