Census records are being scrutinised by the Justice for Magdalenes (JFM) this week to piece together the story of damage done by Cork's two Magdalene laundries. Claire McGettrick of group told the Cork Independent this week that the group has also begun to trace the lives of Cork women who were forced into the Cork laundries. "There were two laundries in Cork, so this is on Cork's doorstep," she told the paper.

The Good Shepherd Convent, which the JFM call a 'Magdalene Asylum' was one of two laundries in Cork and was opened in Sunday's Well on 29 July 1872. It did not close until the late 1970s. The laundry building was among a number of buildings that were destroyed in a fire in 2003.

This week, JFM also handed a 1,000-signature petition to Brian Cowen and made fresh criticism of Cork's Minister Batt O'Keeffe, who said the State would refuse compensation for survivors of the Magdalene Laundry.

JFM is still angry with the Cork minister following his comments last September. In his role as Minister for Education and Science, Mr O'Keeffe said the State had no responsibility for the Magdalene Laundries and that there would be no redress for the "former employees".

He later apologised for using the work "employees" and replaced it with "workers". The JFM online petitioners demand a State apology and a distinct redress scheme for survivors of the Magdalene laundries.

Regrets

A spokesperson for Minister Batt O'Keeffe told the Cork Independent: "The Minister has already said he deeply regrets any offence caused by his use of the term 'employees' when referring to the women who worked in the Magdalene laundries. "The Minister has fully acknowledged that the word 'workers' would have been more appropriate."

The statement went on to say: "As the Minister pointed out on several occasions in his previous role as Minister for Education and Science, the Magdalene Laundries were privately owned and operated establishments which did not fall within the responsibility of the State.

"The Magdalene Laundries are not included under the Redress Scheme because these institutions were not subject to State regulation or supervision." Claire McGettrick said the JFM group is now beginning a research project to see how many women were left in the laundries.

"Already were have come across one woman from the Cork 1911 Census, through our Names Project, who was left in the Peacock laundry for at least 50 years. "We believe another woman is still incarcerated at a Cork religious institution. She is one of many women in pockets around the country who are too institutionalized to ever leave."

Apology

She said this week that the petition came as JFM approached the first anniversary of its proposal calling for an official apology and a distinct redress scheme. "JFM has established that the State was complicit in this institutional abuse and yet in the face of incontrovertible evidence, the government refuses to act."

The event starts at 1pm and will be address by Dr James Smith (English Department & Irish Studies Program, Boston College), author of 'Ireland's Magdalene Laundries and the Nation's Architecture of Containment'. The seminar is free and open to the public at the O'Rahilly Building Room 101.

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