IRELAND
Irish Times
Harry McGee
Analysis Enda Kenny’s Dáil speech on the Magdalene laundries report lasted over 15 minutes last night but much of the focus was on a passage that lasted a little over 40 seconds and the extraordinary final moments when the Taoiseach, choked with emotion, found it difficult to complete the sentence.
After failing so abysmally a fortnight ago with an apology that was received as mealy-mouthed and qualified, there was a political imperative for Kenny to deliver a much fuller apology to the women who spent time in those bleak, loveless institutions while at the same time ensuring he was not paving the way for another so-called lawyerfest.
And that he did with a speech so different in tone and sentiment from two weeks ago it was hard to fathom it had come from the same person.
It included that 40-second passage where a full State and Government apology was issued.
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