You'll Get Wages And Don't Ask For More

How can a government compensate women who were locked up on the whim of a parish priest or an irate parent?

That is the question that the Irish government faces today, as it seeks a solution to the issue of the Magdalene laundry inmates. For decades, Irish women were locked up in institutions that were akin

to workhouses, operated by the Catholic Church. They were made to do heavy work in an industrial laundry, given little food, forced into silence, forced into prayer, and abused to a degree that is nearly incomprehensible.

The women were slaves, held against their will, without due process in a court of law. If they managed to run away, the gardai hunted them down and dragged them back.

How can a figure be set that would make amends? All that can be done, of course, is to patch up damaged people. It is impossible to return their lost years to them. For those whose babies were taken and adopted out, it is close to impossible to reunite them with the children who were stolen.

How about 20,000 euro for that year of forced labor? And don't ask for a penny more.

That, in essence, is what Ireland considers a fair settlement. Back wages, and off you go. The Maggies are old anyway. How much more do they need to keep themselves in tea and Jacob's biscuits?

Is it any wonder that the survivors of the Magdalene laundries have said thanks but no thanks?

Typically, an injured party is entitled to compensation for pain and suffering, and the women endured much pain in their time behind the locked doors. For that reason, some are asking for a bottom line sum of 50,000 euro for each survivor, and then top it off with her lost wages.

For the many who were locked up for more than ten years, they would get a lump sum up front, and the remainder of the 100,000 euro maximum paid out annually. The ladies are all 65 years of age or more. They'll get a little at a time, like children receiving an allowance, rather than getting all the back wages at once and getting a chance to make their own choices about how to invest what they worked so hard to earn.

But they won't have to prove hardship or abuse says Minister of Justice Shatter. Brilliant. If a former Maggie has made a fortune, she can still get the payout. As for proof of abuse, was it not abusive to lock up women because some perverted priest feared her brothers might be tempted into incest by her beauty? What more proof of abuse would a woman need than the fact she was committed to a Magdalane laundry?

As you'd expect, the Irish government is trying to close out a horrendous chapter on the cheap. There are so many women entitled to compensation that even at the bargain rates proposed, the entire scheme could run to 58 million euro.

Mr. Shatter has told the nuns who profited from the venture that they'll be paying into the kitty. That would be the same orders of nuns who cried poor when it came time to compensate the countless victims of the industrial schools. And then didn't pay their share.