Home victims must be included in scheme

If the apology proffered by an Taoiseach Enda Kenny on behalf of the government and state to the Magdalene women is one of genuine substance and compassion and not empty rhetoric for public consumption, then all victims, including those survivors of the Protestant-run Bethany Homes, Westbank and St Mary’s in Summer Hill must be part of that apology and be included in the redress scheme.

Precedence has already been established by the inclusion of the Church of Ireland run Smiley’s Home in the Residential Institutions Redress scheme 2002.

Why does the Government continue to equivocate on the inclusion of some Protestant-run institutions in the redress scheme on the basis that those who entered these Homes did so voluntarily?