The removal of criminal records for people put into reform and industrial schools has been welcomed by survivors and their families.
Maurice Patton O’Connell was one of four survivors of reform and industrial schools who undertook a 52-day hunger strike outside the Dáil last year, campaigning for improved supports.
Maurice Patton O’Connell, Miriam Moriarty Owens and Mary Donovan were child inmates of Pembroke Alms Industrial School in Tralee, while Mary Dunlevy Greene was placed in an industrial school in Limerick.
The Taoiseach yesterday apologised in the Dáil to survivors of industrial abuse, while Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan also removed criminal records for those who were put into those institutions.
Maurice Patton O’Connell says he hopes that those boarded out will be helped next, but he’s glad to finally get closure.
