Kenny's Lack of Apology Is Cruel, Says SF

By Shaun Connolly
Irish Examiner
February 11, 2013

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/kennys-lack-of-apology-is-cruel-says-sf-221876.html



Despite intense pressure from opposition parties, and rising alarm at his stance among his own backbenchers and the Labour Party, Mr Kenny said he needed another two weeks to absorb the findings of the investigation into the scandal and decide how to respond.

Opposition parties bran-ded the lack of a formal State apology by the Taoiseach as a “disgrace” and a delaying tactic motivated by a desire to limit any compensation payments.

In heated exchanges with the Taoiseach during leaders’ questions, Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald said his attitude was “cruel”.

“I think it is extremely cruel to the Magdalene women who expected that their story would be fully validated and that the Taoiseach would move to remove that awful stigma with which they have lived — by putting up our hands, collectively, and by the State putting up its hands and saying: ‘You were wronged. We were negligent’. I hope his [Mr Kenny’s] version of responsible government is not one that simply seeks to circle the wagons to protect the State from any financial liability that might arise and to simply cast the women’s experiences to one side.”