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Sisters of Mercy will not meet with Quinn

The Sisters of Mercy have said they will not attend a meeting with Education Minister Ruairí Quinn this afternoon.

EDUCATION MINISTER RUAIRÍ Quinn was due to meet with religious congregations today about bridging the gap of an estimated €350 million in compensation to victims of abuse in residential institutions.

He invited 18 religious congregations who were implicated in the Ryan report to discuss their offers towards the bill.

However a statement on the Sisters of Mercy website states that the Sisters “declined” an invitation to the meeting.

It also said the Sisters believe:

that they have been misrepresented and demonised in recent years and that their Congregation has been portrayed in a way that seeks to undermine their voluntary service to this country and beyond.

They said that they wanted to state the Commission “did not make a recommendation that the State’s expenditure upon the commission and the redress scheme would be borne 50:50 between the State and 18 religious congregations”.

They also say that “here has never been an agreement between the State and 18 religious congregations that the costs of the Redress Scheme would be borne on a 50:50 basis”.

It has been wrongly suggested that the Congregation has disadvantaged the State in that it has failed to honour a debt. The Congregation has met and will continue to meet all of its commitments to former residents and to the State.

Sister Coirle McCarthy, the Congregational Leader, said:

In making the offer in December 2009, our first priority was the well-being of all the former residents of our industrial schools.  It is for the benefit of all former residents that we offer €20m to an independent fund together with a number of properties valued at €11.5m.

The Sisters of Mercy said their 2009 offer included properties offered to the State valued at December 2009 at €80,856,80; properties offered to the voluntary sector valued at December 2009 at €15,060,000.

The Sisters said they “regret that the Government has determined that the Statutory Fund for former residents will not benefit from the properties offered to it or even from their proceeds of sale”.

If the State does not accept these properties, five of them will be offered to local county councils and two significant properties will be sold and the proceeds will go the new National Children’s Hospital.

The Sisters say that in the last 10 years they have donated cash and property in excess of €1billion to ensure that these voluntary services continue.

Sister Coirle concluded by emphasising that “our Congregation will continue to care for those who were with us as children” and added “we take this opportunity to, again, offer our heartfelt apology to all those who were hurt and damaged in our institutions.”

Read: Will religious congregations attend key meeting with Ruairí Quinn?>

Read: Quinn to press ahead with religious orders meeting. Will they show up?>

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31 Comments
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    Mute Suzie Sunshine
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    Dec 1st 2015, 10:17 PM

    To think there’s a family out there who’s probably been looking for that poor girl for the last twenty years , it’s very sad .

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    Mute MandyTwinkleToes
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    Dec 4th 2015, 4:53 AM

    And what about the disappeared don’t they count?

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    Mute jane
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    Dec 1st 2015, 10:19 PM

    How do you lose a skull?

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    Mute Debbie Duggan
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    Dec 1st 2015, 10:45 PM

    The poor girl,how could she ever rest in peace,no family as yet,buried in a place she probably never knew,from her shoulders down in a coffin and her skull probably in a box in a basement somewhere..such a sad story..your right Jane how do you lose a skull..

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    Mute Carol Keane
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    Dec 1st 2015, 10:57 PM

    My parents were involved in the recovery of the body of a man in the early 2000′s (?) in the Shannon Estuary. That man has never been identified. He was given a state burial in Ennis. Another member of the rescue crew entered a competition on Clare FM a short time after to win a headstone. The competition called for people to write their own epitaph. He wrote one for the unidentified man and won. “All you people of Co. Clare, kneel down here and say a prayer, for the man from God knows where”. Very sad to think that there is no name on that headstone.

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    Mute fusha2020
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    Dec 1st 2015, 11:07 PM

    That made me go cold. What a lovely thing to do for someone and a lovely epitaph.Unclaimed bodies always make me feel so terribly sad, lost souls,some never missed and others never found.

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    Mute Martin Oliver Browne
    Favourite Martin Oliver Browne
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    Dec 1st 2015, 10:30 PM

    With technology and communication being so advanced it is hard to believe this persons family or friends can not be located ..very sad story ..

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    Mute Tosh Lavery
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    Dec 1st 2015, 11:06 PM

    Great and sensitive article.

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    Mute Aisling Brady
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    Dec 1st 2015, 10:16 PM

    another massive Fail for the Irish State – We are good at failure.

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    Mute Maggie
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    Dec 1st 2015, 10:22 PM

    Hardly a fail.sure she cud have come from anywhere

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    Mute Colette Kearns
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    Dec 1st 2015, 10:40 PM

    Thats the sad thing about stories like this, maybe no family to miss her! Like the lady who’s body was found in the sea in clontarff I dont think she was even identified never mind been missed! We all take it so much for granted that everyone has family! Cherish yours everyday♡♡

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    Mute fusha2020
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    Dec 1st 2015, 11:12 PM

    A pretty epic fail really by forensic standards. No dental xrays,no chance of facial reconstrustion. Plus its just bad form to loose a part of someone,how’d you even do that its not exactly a set if keys!

    51
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