Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach's welcome apology on behalf of the State was long overdue. The Magdalen women have waited, hoped and prayed for this moment. Many of them despaired that it might never come, but it has. Today saw a full acknowledgement of the wrong done to them. They were wronged. The State was complicit in their detention and abuse in the laundries. It oversaw a system of slave labour, had commercial relationships with and inspected the laundries. The State was a party to the wholesale violation of the basic freedoms and rights of girls and women detained in those laundries. Their arbitrary detention, their servitude and their forced labour were illegal. The State broke the law repeatedly for decades. It is liable for these unlawful acts and for failing in its legal duties to uphold and vindicate the rights of the girls and women.

This is what today's apology is about. The acknowledgement of the hurt and suffering is essential for the women, but the State's acceptance of its responsibility, liability and failures is the crucial part. The apology is just a first step in securing justice for the women. Redress and compensation must follow to make some amends. In other words, the apology must be matched with actions.

The story of the Magdalen laundries brings us face to face once again with the all too familiar themes of shame, stigma, silence and secrecy, themes that have defined the systemic abuse of women and children in Irish society for generations.

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