21.02.2013
Statement of the Archbishop of Dublin on Bethany Home
The Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd Dr Michael Jackson, has welcomed the news that the Government has indicated that it is going to consider the case of the former residents of the Bethany Home in Dublin. A letter has been sent to the Minister for Justice Alan Shatter TD asking him to establish an inquiry into the home.
The Archbishop met members of the Bethany Survivors Group on Monday evening. During the meeting the group detailed their efforts over the 18 months since they last spoke to the Archbishop and spoke of their frustration with the State’s failure to recognise their plight to date. They also outlined their plans to establish a memorial in Mount Jerome cemetery to commemorate the children buried there.
The Archbishop undertook to write to the government on the issue once again and to seek a meeting with the Taoiseach to discuss Bethany. He also told the former residents of measures he had undertaken to provide for their pastoral care.
Archbishop Jackson said: “I warmly welcome the Taoiseach’s statement in the Dáil and the undertaking to look again at the issue of the Bethany Home. Having spoken again in recent days with the former residents I am conscious of their feeling of injustice that the State has not examined the home in a similar way to other institutions.”