By Georgina Brennan

The deadline for victims of abuse in Irish child care institutions to file claims for redress is December 15, 2005. Once that deadline passes anyone who suffered cruel and harrowing abuse at those institutions between 1920 and 1970 will continue to suffer in silence without any compensation.

The new executive director of the Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers, Sheila Gleeson, has issued a fresh appeal for U.S.-based victims to come forward before it’s too late.

“Late applications will not be accepted and so it is important to start the application process immediately,” Gleeson told the Irish Voice.

An estimated 12,000 victims who were denied a proper upbringing, barely learned to read and write and suffered physical, sexual and emotional abuse while resident in Irish industrial schools, reformatories, orphanages and other institutions have not come forward. Many are thought to be residing in the U.S.

All they have to do is come forward, tell their story and they will get monetary compensation.

The cases first came to light in Ireland in the 1990s, leading to the creation of the Irish Commission, an independent tribunal which is currently hearing evidence from survivors.

The abuse took place in the care system in Ireland between 1920 to 1970. The homes (called industrial schools and reformatories), catered for poor and destitute children, and were run by religious congregations.

Children were sometimes placed in institutions because they were from single parent households that could not cope with large families. In many cases survivors have siblings they never met who suffered the same fate.

The institutions were inadequately funded by the government, and were neglected and allowed to exist in abject poverty.

Although efforts were made by the congregations to raise extra funds by making the children work, selling produce and giving them inadequate food rations, there was a complete lack of inspections, standards, and the institutions were simply allowed to drift aimlessly.

Cruelty, neglect, abuse and inadequate education were commonplace. In 1970, the whole system was condemned in a report prepared by District Justice Eileen Kennedy. As a result many of the reformatories and industrial schools were closed down.

It took until the late 1990s, however, for the scandal to leak out into the press and television, leading eventually to an apology being given in public by the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern in May 1999.

He then set up the commission to hear evidence from any survivor who wanted to tell his or her story of abuse. The evidence is still being heard. In December 2002 the Residential Institutions Redress Board was set up to deal with claims for compensation.

Five thousand claimants have already launched claims connected to the abuse, starvation and cruelty in the Church-managed institutions. Awards that have been made by the Redress Board vary between €50,000 and €300,000.

Readers who think they might be entitled to compensation should immediately contact a lawyer. The Redress Board in Dublin pays all solicitors’ costs associated with making a claim, so anyone wishing to make a claim will therefore not be responsible for any legal fees.

For more information visit www.rirb.ie. Gleeson can be contacted at 617-987-0193, or e-mail: sgleeson.ciic@rcn.com.