IRELAND
Irish Times
JOE HUMPHREYS
BACKGROUND: The exclusion of Bethany Home residents from the Magdalene laundries redress scheme has prompted allegations of double standards and religious bias.
The Protestant-run residence for unmarried mothers and their children operated between 1921 and 1972, initially in Blackhall Place, Dublin, and later Rathgar. About 20 former residents are known to the Bethany Home Survivors group, which stresses that the financial implications of their inclusion would be relatively small.
But the Department of Justice is concerned about the precedent it would set.
According to some estimates, in excess of 10 times as many women and children would have gone through Catholic-run mother-and-baby homes, which have been excluded so far from any official inquiry.
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