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AN 80-YEAR-OLD woman who worked in a Magdalene Laundry for six years from the age of 11 has won her battle for compensation.
Mary Cavner, who now lives in the UK, worked at the Good Shepherd’s Convent in Co Cork following her father’s death.
Speaking to the BBC previously, Cavner said it was a shock being back in the outside world after leaving the Laundry, adding that “it really does affect you”.
News of the award was first reported by the Press Association. The amount was granted for unpaid work during her time at the laundry, the news wire service reported.
BBC has reported that the figure awarded is €76,000.
In February 2013, then-Taoiseach Enda Kenny issued a State apology to the women impacted by the Magdalene Laundries.
Cavner had applied for the Irish government’s Magdalene Laundries scheme in 2013 on the basis that she had worked at one of the laundries.
However, she was told the one she worked at didn’t fall under the records, according to her solicitor Chun Wong, who spoke on RTÉ Radio One’s News at One.
Cavner then made a complaint to the Irish Ombudsman in 2016.
In November 2017, the Ombudsman published a report regarding the scheme, in which it recommended that the scheme be extended. That recommendation was adopted by the Irish government in November 2018.
Cavner reapplied under an extended scheme in 2018.
“It wasn’t until May 2019 that Mary was finally given an award under the extended scheme,” Wong said.
Wong said that she hopes Cavner’s case will help other women in similar situations.
“Mary has had a very, very supportive family who have helped her every step of the way. She’s had access to legal representation, which a lot of women don’t have,” she said.
When asked how Cavner is feeling following the news of the compensation, Wong said “it’s still a bit surreal for her and her family”.
“It’s been very emotional, the journey … she’s spent longer fighting the Irish government than she had been in the Magdalene Laundry,” she said.
Wong added that Cavner was “never sure if she would ever see the compensation”.
“Her fear was always she would die before she got a penny of the money due to her,” she said.
“It’s never been about the money for Mary because no amount of money is ever going to be able to compensate her for the trauma that she went through as a child, but it’s about calling the Irish government to account.”
In a statement to TheJournal.ie, Ombudsman Peter Tyndall said: “Mary Cavner and other women who worked in Magdalene Laundries have waited a long time to receive redress.
“I very much welcome the decision of the Department of Justice in relation to Mary’s case and in the cases of other women who worked in Magdalene Laundries but were resident in adjoining institutions.”
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Fascinating relationship, reconciliation is a powerful force for good.
If only the wicked old witch of the West had gone to bed when the bomb went off!
Only to have someone worse to come along in her place. That’s what happens anytime there’s a martyred leader. Don’t get me wrong though. I had a few drinks to celebrate when she died, as I’m sure many Irish and British people did. However, if she had been killed, we would probably still be waking up to news headlines of bombs in the North each week, having watchtowers and checkpoints still at the border, a few more Omaghs perhaps, and probably even harsher policies than the Witch herself had put into force.
The peace process, as we can now see owing to the declassified papers, was almost derailed by the bombing. If she had been killed, the process would have been entirely destroyed. On top of that, Thatcher would have become a martyr in the eyes of a huge chunk of British voters. The next election would have resulted in a large radical vote to the Tories, or worse even.
Just like how now, Le Front National in France is gaining because of recent attacks. People see France under threat, therefore they feel they must vote for the radical party to feel protected. In the 1980s, British people saw their country as under attack from Irish terrorists. Killing off the Prime Minister would just have made things a whole lot worse, both politically and in day-to-day life for the Irish in Britain in general.
The IRA never assassinated Paisley, despite his endless incendiary rants because that would make him a martyr.
Were they not concerned about making Thatcher a martyr, if the bomb had “succeeded?
Hi Willy. Most people in Britain could not stand Thatcher. She only got the vote because the alternative seemed so much worse. But Thatcher as a person made most people I knew, cringe.
Her replacement in my opinion was worse. John Major allowed in repressive and evil legislation that even Thatcher would balk at.
I refer of course to the Criminal Justice Laws which were a clear crime against democracy.
Nasty evil little man.
She’s a brave lady to do what she’s doing. I know I could never forgive someone who murdered a family member, I wouldn’t even see the point in meeting him.
Yes those are my sentiments exactly. She is an amazing woman and is doing something I certainly couldn’t do
@charles well said. Stephen the implicit threat of violence towards Charles speaks volumes for the person you are
I wonder would he have gone back and disarm the bomb if thatcher had cancel her plans of staying in the hotel .
Who’s name Dennis the IRA weren’t fighting any guerrilla war in your name they were fighting it fir the sub human conditions to Catholics had to endure in the north yes apartheid that many Irish in the south despised in South Africa and now in Israel but didn’t mind 4hrs up the road. Mandela is a hero here. Sometimes people will do things others cant so they do it and others don’t have to.
There was nothing in NI on par with South Africa, if you want to criticise Stormont then by all means do so but try and put a bit of honesty in your statements.
The south wasn’t exactly a utopia for protestants either after partition, their religion was constantly marginalised and hindered by the Catholic Church. They were murdered and forced of their land by republicans during the war of independence and civil war. If you are going to tell a story then tell it in its entirety.
And the PIRA were fighting to restore Irish national sovereignty across 32 counties, in other words “Brits out” and a full implementation of a socialist Irish Republic. That objective failed. If their original aim was to take their seats in Stormont and Leinster house (two parliaments they deemed illegal) then I’ll happily admit that they won, that wasn’t the case though.
When all this madness was taking place up here too the majority of Irish nationalists voted for the moderate SDLP so that gives an insight into the support the IRA and SF had, it only grew as a party after the guns were taken out of the equation, the PUL side was the same too, and political party aligned with terrorists got very little support, even the hardline DUP only gained more support when they decided to go the power sharing route along with SF. What’s in there now are two extremist parties that couldn’t agree on the colour of s****, they want their big share of the spoils but also want to live in the past. That’s why the peace process to date has been a farce.
Pure Horsedung B-Egan
Fleggerbot, you say the PUL didn’t align itself to terrorists? Well nationalists would say that’s bollox. The RUC, B specials, UDA, UDR…all at one time LEGAL organisations!!! You’re view of the north is so blinkered Flegger. Go read a history book.
All credit to the terrorist who admits that he regrets killing and maiming human beings. A pity a few ‘republican’ leaders don’t admit their own role and help the families of the disappeared deal with their loss.
Mary Lou was in nappies when that bomb went off.
Her Fuher wasn’t.
Mary Lou wore nappies when she was 15? Wow. (I googled her age on the Internet machine….What a time to be alive)
Considering that 800 yrs of constant conquest by invading armies and cultures the plight of the forgotten Catholics in the north will never be understood by a southern population spawned out of imperial forces it is the dna to the Irish to reject self defense and endorse oppression as as plain to see even to this day. The Celtic values died with the men and women who fought for it now all we have is the mindset of the generals lords and soldiers that stole it from us with the bible and sword. The IRA will never be accepted like Mandela’s organization were in South Africa because Mandela had the backing of the indigenous black oppressed population in Ireland the blood is Anglo Saxon Norman British.
What is Gerry Adams bloodlines B-Egan?
It is quite hypocritical that the original IRA General Collins, Cosgrove our first taoiseach, De Valera etc are Irelands eternal hero’s and those soldiers who were screwed by the treaty and forced into a gerrymandering sectarian state and continued to fight are deemed something else by people who by pure luck found themselves on the right side of a invisible line.
Every person in Ireland should ask themselves what if it was they who woke to find themselves on the wrong side of undemocratic line plucked out if the air and at the mercy of a bunch of sectarian bigots. Food for thought.
Antrim the Brits are gone the Catholics got the vote and now their power sharing with protestants the younger generation want to live in peace well except for a few knuckle draggers who don’t like the Irish flag been flown in Ireland. United Ireland will come some day . But Antrim British soldiers are gone and so is Loyalist domination. Job done.
IRA are gone too and no United Ireland, I know unionists are usually too stubborn to admit it but they should be happy enough with the outcome of the conflict. The British army were only here because of republican violence, all republicans had to do was cease it they really wanted the troops out. Hardly rocket science is it.
Aye it was that easy,catholics went the peaceful route remember?and when they did they were shot by the paras,what kicked off the troubles?bombay street,catholics being burnt out of their homes,the republic setting up refugee camps etc,its an unfortunate pill to swallow, violence may not have achieved the united ireland fought for,but it certainly got the british to the table,brute force is all they understand,collins fought them the exact same way,politics were never going to cut it with the brits
All the violence did was rip communities in NI apart, the majority of attacks resulted in ordinary Catholics and Protestants being hurt or killed, over 2000 civilians killed and 30000 hurt. All the IRA did was negotiate a way out of it for themselves because they were being hammered by the British intelligence services and their own communities who put pressure on them to cease. If this so called brute force put the British out then why am I still spending sterling, why is the Union flag still the official flag of NI? The British went nowhere, if you think they did then you are deluded or completely indoctrinated by republican preaching.
Try reading what i wrote,you can be part of the new age pc brigade concerning the north now if you want but the fact remains that the same as any country with an apartheid regime,there was legitimate resistance,and if you think the ruc being overhauled,one man getting one vote,the protestant parliment being forced to share power etc,could all have been changed by peaceful democracy then youre barking mad,the british state created the monster that was the pira,by their lies,false promises,inaction for 50 years in relation to northern ireland,and general classist arrogance
Fleggerbot, violence is inevitable when you create a two tiered gerrymandered statelet and allow it to be run in an absolute sectarian manner. Oppression breads resistance. You can only keep a people down for so long before they rise up. Bobby Sands was right. Our revenge IS the laughter of our children.
There would have still have been a Peace Process if Thatcher had of been killed-
Prince Charles uncle dicky was executed by the IRA- number 10 was bombed by the IRA- large sections of English city’s were obliterated in the Tonne bomb attacks-
Thatchers death would have made no difference-
Except to the sales of HB ice cream and Chivers jelly ;)
Hats off to this woman. I see him as a horrible person maybe trying to justify to himself his torment or maybe he feels nothing as most serial killers.
He didn’t kill my family and I still consider him and the ira vermin
Things like this give him and the IRA a degree of credibility when it’s no way deserved, the victims are the only ones deserving of credibility but more often than not they are classed as being lower than those than made them victims to begin with. It’s a funny old world sometimes.
the IRA’s degree of credibility comes from its victory against one of the biggest, richest and dirtiest armies in the world.
Flegger, the catholic people of the occupied 6 counties were victims for 50 years of horrible, sectarian oppression by unionists. Pat Magee took the fight right to the heart of the British establishment, an establishment who didn’t give 2 fooks about the situation in the north and used it as a playground for their military. A hero in my eyes. Just a shame Thatcher survived.
Sands vote was only so high because the SDLP agreed to pull their candidate out of the running, Sands stood as a nationalist unity candidate so it was either vote for him or vote for a Unionist, most nationalists obviously went for Sands.
No one went into the ballot box with them. They didn’t have to vote but they freely did. A vote doesn’t come with conditions attached.
The idea of election pacts are to maximise the vote for a certain candidate, the unionists do it too in order to try and beat SF, the UUP and DUP will let a Unionist independent stand instead of their own candidates, it takes the split out of the Unionist vote, same happened with Sands. It happens in elections all over the world.
I understand what a pact means, but it doesn’t mean you have to go along with it.
Well in the case of NI politics you have a choice, it’s vote Unionist, vote nationalist or don’t vote at all and let your opponent win instead.
Over 100,000 people attended Bobby Sands funeral.
Amazed my comment has been removed….why. Explain what I said that could offend anyone.
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