Message from Special Advocate for Survivors
Please see below a message from the newly appointed Special Advocate for Survivors, Ms Patricia Casey. Ms Casey would like to engage with those survivors living abroad to ensure their views are represented to Government. Please share this message with anyone you know who might be impacted.
Dear Survivors and stakeholders,
My name is Patricia Carey and I started in the role of Special Advocate on 25 March. I very much look forward to meeting and hearing from survivors and representative groups over the coming weeks and months.
The role includes survivors of Mother and Baby Institutions, Magdalene Laundries, Industrial and Reformatory schools, and related institutions, those who were adopted, boarded out, or those whose births were illegally registered. This includes Survivors living outside Ireland.
In this role I plan to communicate with as many survivor groups and individuals as possible, it is critical that the Governments action plans are directly informed by Survivors. This is an independent role which will enable Survivors to engage with me to further amplify and represent your views to Government.
A key element of this communication process is the establishment of an Advisory Council made up of Survivors. I will set this council up over the coming months and those Survivors will be key to informing and supporting the work of the Special Advocate and to ensure my work is informed by the lived experiences of affected persons.
I do not have a role to provide direct services to or provide individual support to survivors however I am keen to hear how various Government measures have impacted Survivors.
As an adopted person born in a Mother and Baby institution, I plan to bring a unique perspective and dedication to this role.
I look forward to meeting and hearing from you and I invite you to contact me to arrange to meet and discuss your views and issues of concern.
Please contact me at pcarey@pobal.ie
Regards
Patricia
Patricia Carey
Special Advocate for Survivors