Pictured: Patricia Carey, Special Advocate for the Survivors of Institutional Abuse (second from right) with the Fréa Renewing Roots team. .
It’s just over six months since the Special Advocate for the Survivors of Institutional Abuse, Patricia Carey was appointed.
In her role, Patricia has met with over 500 survivors of Ireland’s institutions and represented their concerns directly to the Irish Government.
Here, we look at the Special Advocate’s remit and how they represent former residents of the Ireland’s institutions.
The role of the Special Advocate for Survivors of Institutional Abuse was one of the recommendations of the Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Institutions.
The role involves engaging with survivors of Magdalene Laundries, Mother and Baby Institutions, Industrial and Reformatory Schools and related institutions, as well as those who were adopted and boarded out and those who were illegally adopted. The Special Advocate and her team operate independently from the Irish Government.
Consulting with former residents and identifying concerns is central to the Special Advocate’s work so that these can be raised to the Irish Government directly. This means the collective interests of survivors can be put at the centre of the Government’s response to trauma resulting from their incarceration.
The Special Advocate notes that the following issues have been raised repeatedly by former residents:
Difficulties in obtaining records related to time spent in institutions
There is feeling of being over-consulted and under-represented
Exclusions from the redress schemes or receiving their full early life information
People want to be able to tell their stories
Patricia Carey is keen to emphasise that she represents those who spent time in these institutions wherever they now live, whether in the Republic of Ireland or overseas.
Fréa Renewing Roots welcomed Patricia Carey to Manchester to meet with former residents in June this year. Her productive session was received warmly by those in attendance. This visit was followed up by visits to the Survivors Project at the London Irish Centre and a similar project organised by the Coventry Irish Society.
As Special Advocate, Patricia Carey is also a member of the National Centre for Research and Remembrance Steering Group and involves facilitating ongoing consultation with survivors so that their views can be heard, represented and incorporated when developing the Centre. Consultation meetings began on 22/10/2024 with a meeting in Dublin. This will be followed by further consultations Galway on 14 November, Cork on 19 November and in London and online on 25 February 2025.
You can contact the Special Advocates Department at info@specialadvocate.ie
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