Bethany Home survivors hopeful of State redress

Survivors of the Bethany Home in Dublin say they are optimistic about getting redress from the State.
It follows a meeting with Justice Minister Alan Shatter and the Minister of State for Disability, Equality and Mental Health Kathleen Lynch.
Bethany Home was a Protestant residential institution that detained single mothers and women who were convicted of various crimes
Niall Meehan is spokesperson for the survivors. He says parallels can be drawn with the Magdalene Laundries.
“There’s some elements of similarity in the sense that women in the Bethany Home were sent there as a punishment, for having children out of wedlock” he said.
“Some of the first Magdalene institutions were Church of Ireland or Protestant institutions”.
“There are points of dissimilarity too; but by and large what unites them is the fact that Irish society was very conservative, and that people were subject to moral sanctions if they had children out of wedlock” he added.