Magdalene lessons - Many ways to make apology real

The apology issued on behalf of all of us by Taoiseach Enda Kenny in the Dáil last evening, to women who were held in one of the 10 Magdalene Laundries between 1922 and 1996, was inevitable and overdue.

It was also very welcome as not to offer one would have been utterly wrong and just too cold-hearted.

The symbolism of the leader of a government — and through him the nation — apologising for a historical wrong inflicted on a group once shunned and often shouted down should not be underestimated. Neither should the potency of the simple language used. It must be hoped, too, though this cannot be guaranteed or maybe even expected, that yesterday’s Dáil statement will help those women alive to hear the apology reach, even in a small way, some sort of personal peace over how they were so mistreated and abused.

Unfortunately the pain, isolation, and ignominy suffered by the Magdalene women who did not live to hear the apology cannot be assuaged. Like so many other victims of abuse at the hands of those entrusted with their care by the State, even at an arm’s length, their burden cannot be eased. It can, however, be remembered and used to inform policies and build a culture more aware of its obligations and assertive than the one that so frequently turned a blind eye to institutionalised abuse in the past.

Mr Kenny should have made the apology when the McAleese report was published two weeks ago and he squandered some personal capital by not doing so, especially as his reticence was so at variance with the public mood. He recognised this profound shift in attitude when, in the Dáil last year, he made a speech that strongly criticised the Vatican and the Catholic hierarchy for their persistent policy of protecting child abusers. It may require some generosity to recognise that he may have been distracted — the bank debt deal was announced within hours — but then this entire process is about finding the generosity to forgive and the courage and dignity to acknowledge wrongdoing.

Myriad reports on how vulnerable people, especially children, were abused in this society have led to new policies to protect groups who might be at risk. This is welcome and as it must be, but maybe there is a wider lesson waiting to be learnt.

Just hours before Mr Kenny spoke in the Dáil, a European human rights body raised concerns about how some immigrants, especially asylum seekers, are treated in this country. Can we be sure that, in years to come, we will not have to accept, as we did with the Magdalene women and so many others, that all of those seeking refuge here are being treated with the dignity and respect we would expect for ourselves? Though generally positive, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance’s fourth monitoring report on Ireland suggested that we should be doing more. Surely the best way to make yesterday’s apology real is to, in as far as is humanly possible, ensure that the days of turning a blind eye to the suffering of others are gone. If we are to accept that theory, and Mr Kenny’s apology inferred nothing less, then we have plenty of opportunities to give expression to that ideal.