To All Survivors!!!!!!

[Barbie]

TO ALL SURVIVORS,

As Minister Jan O’Sullivan is new to her job, would it be at all possible that we could band together and ask the Minister to meet with a group of survivors so that we can voice our ISSUES with the Caranua program. As Caranua was developed for the survivors and because most if not all are already entitled to these services offered either by age, medical card or through social circumstance the Caranua program IS NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE. Minister Quinn, did say he would review the program in 2015, the new Minister needs to review it with URGENCY NOW! We need to have an account from the Minister as to what is happening to our SURVIVORS MONEY AND BECASUE ITS OUR MONEY WE NEED TO BE KEPT INFORMAED OF SPENDING. We would like to know from Minister Jan O’Sullivan about the interest on the 110 Million and where it is being banked, also where the rental income from properties given to survivors by the religious is being banked on our behalf , and what is happening to the original 110 Million.

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!

[Elizabeth Nicholas]

Hello Barbara,  I wonder why these people are leaving caranua.  I applied for financial help about 5 months ago but have not heard anything back, quite honestly I do not want to go cap in hand for the services that they are offering, I believe we should have financial help when we need it.   Maybe that is why I have not heard back from them that money is ours and I will keep badgering them until they can give me the help I need.Why should Mary Higgins get such a high salary,  and people like myself are asking for such help and geting nowhere.  One gets fed up being told there is no cash for us,  such bare faced lies.  Caranua has to be shut down and soon. 

[shep]

hiya, probable a silly question, how does one survivor know a lot of people are leaving caranua, and if they know any of them, could they be incouraged to be concidered a whistle blower, just asking...

[Barbie]

Hi Shep, Its the staff employed by Caranua that deal with applications for Survivors that are leaving. The person I spoke to was informed by a call to Caranua that her case worker no longer worked for Caranua. She was also told that other Caranua employees had left. 

Barbara

[georgina price]

Hi Barbara. My case worker had also left, now I have a nive one. He seems very helpful.

[Barbie]

 Georgina, That is good to hear!

[Barbie]

Hello Elizabeth, I agree with everything you have said in your comments! it is taken them quite a while to respond to peoples applications maybe you should try and contact them by phone to see how long you are going to be waiting to hear back from them.

Barbara

[shep]

Would be nice to get a name and telephone no of one of those that left caranua fo sure.

[Barbie]

Shep, that's for sure!!

[jack colleton]

i like the spirit of your post Elizabeth! 

[Rob Northall]

caranua

• Posted by Elizabeth Nicholas on February 16, 2015 at 19:34  View Blog

Hello to all Survivors,  has anyone got information as to what is happening with caranua,   Eileen Mcmahon promised another meeting in January or February but nothing so far.   Can anyone shed information on what is going on as we all feel caranua should be closed,  I applied for financial help (as the money is ours) some time ago,  have heard nothing so the lady that received 38.000 was a very lucky lady,  would like to know how long she had to wait for help. but would like to know how she received that much when I read that if we managed to receive financial help it would only be 7773 euros, where is the justice.

Views: 38

[C Dublin]

It's much more.. A third level degree is 4K X 3 plus 3k maintenance .. So it's obviously much, much more

[Barbie]

Hi To All,

This report was on the

www.msn.com/en-ie

Surviviors of institutional abuse have expressed outrage over Government plans to seal all major industrial school and orphanage investigation records for 75 years.

The move, which also allows for the possible destruction of documents, must now be ratified by the Dáil in a bill which will be brought forward by Education Minister Jan O'Sullivan.

The Irish Independent has learned that the bill has been approved by Cabinet for drafting.

The Retention of Records Bill 2015 will provide for the strict and confidential sealing of documents from the Commission into Child Abuse, the Residential Institutions Redress Board and the Residential Institutions Review Committee.

Tom Cronin of Irish Survivors of Institutional Abuse International said abuse survivors were "shocked and horrified" that the records would be sealed for so long.

"I can understand that these documents are sensitive and that they might need to be sealed for a period of years.

"But why seal them for 75 years? Why not seal them for five or 10 years? By the time they can be accessed again, everyone associated with this most shameful period of Irish history will be long dead. The whole thing won't be anything more than a footnote in history by 2090," he said.

Mr Cronin also expressed concern that, by sealing the documents, the Government may unwittingly frustrate any potential future legal action by abuse survivors.

"Who knows what new evidence or material might arise in the future? That new evidence might prove worthless because the vital supporting documentation will be locked away in a vault for 75 years."

Ms O'Sullivan has defended the Government's position, saying the records are "highly sensitive and contain the personal stories of victims of institutional child abuse".

"I believe that it is important that these records are not destroyed, both to ensure that future generations will understand what happened and out of respect to the victims who came forward," she said.

"By sealing the records for 75 years and ensuring appropriate safeguards on the release of the records thereafter, we are in a position to preserve these sensitive records."

Maeve Lewis, director of charity One In Four, said the bill represented a difficult compromise between those who wanted the records kept as a vital part of Irish history and those who demanded all documentation be destroyed on confidentiality grounds.

"It is a compromise. Our position was that these records had to be preserved as a vital part of Irish history. In fact, we felt that the destruction of these documents would be a crime," she said.

The Government plan is for all documents from the various abuse probes to be lodged with the National Archives.

COMMISSION INTO CHILD ABUSE

Sometimes known as the Ryan Report or the Laffoy Commission after the judges who headed the lengthy probe, the investigation ran for 10 years, from 1999 to 2009. It inquired into the abuse of children in a range of different Irish institutions.

It examined all forms of abuse dating from 1936 and amongst its most shocking findings was the treatment meted out to children in industrial schools operated by Church bodies with the support of the State.

These ranged from rapes, beatings and the starvation of children, to youngsters being hired out as cheap labour. The abuse was described as "endemic" and was said to be "the most shameful episode in the history of the Irish State".

The Residential Institutions Redress Board (RIRB) was set up in 2002 to compensate those who were abused as children in various State and Church institutions since 1936.

By the end of 2013, the RIRB had dealt with 16,620 applications for compensation. The total awards made amounted to €944.1m. The average award was €62,530.