Renewed calls have been made for the Government to urgently issue a State apology to the remaining thalidomide survivors following the Taoiseach’s formal apology to the family of the late prison officer Brian Stack.
Former Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl said the State had recently issued a number of “long sought and richly deserved apologies”.
That includes apologies to the victims of paedophile Bill Kennelly, the family of Shane O’Farell who was killed in a hit-and-run incident, the survivors of institutional abuse, the families of the Stardust victims and for the CervicalCheck scandal.
But Ó Fearghaíl said the “glaring omission” from the list is “the survivors of thalidomide, the 40 or so people still living who were abjectly failed by the State over 60 years ago”.
He asked when they “and maybe even more significantly the tiny number of remaining mothers who are at very advanced age” would receive the apology “to which they are most definitely entitled and the supports they need to live out the rest of their lives in dignity”.
Thalidomide was a drug developed in the 1950s to treat morning sickness during pregnancy.
It was withdrawn from most markets in 1961 following widespread evidence it was linked to birth defects but continued to be sold in Ireland until 1964.
Many children were born without limbs or with shortened limbs, with hearing and vision impairment and internal organ injuries.
When Ó Fearghaíl raised it in the Dáil, Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said there is a “strong desire” to address “very real concerns”. She expects they “may be resolved and that any remaining barriers on any side would be set aside for that to be completed for the benefit of the survivors of thalidomide”.
The Irish Thalidomide Association (ITA) has campaigned for the last 15 years and their efforts included a 2024 letter from thalidomide mother Mary Clarken, who is 96, to then Taoiseach Simon Harris seeking an apology.
The association also wants recognition of the “unacknowledged” survivors whose mothers took the drug after it had been officially withdrawn, statutory supports and a fair compensation scheme.
Finola Cassidy of the ITA said: “While the Government has indicated a State apology will follow eventually we fear that some of our survivors and families won’t be around to hear it and we’ve repeatedly asked for it to happen in good faith as soon as possible.”
The association last met the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, the Attorney General and senior officials in June with a further meeting scheduled for the autumn.
“Micheál and Simon have said they have taken personal and political responsibility,” Cassidy said.
She has been contacted by Government and “I am assured that an early date will be found to recommence the discussion”.
This meeting is very important because “some of the issues still being negotiated remain challenging,” including finding the right compensation scheme and the promised legislation to give statutory effect to the healthcare supports for remaining survivors.
“Since 2017 they have repeatedly said they are working on the heads of a Bill on a Thalidomide and we’ve repeatedly asked to see these heads of the Bill and continue to seek that.”
November marks the 65th anniversary of the international withdrawal of the thalidomide drug and the failure of the State to act on that notification.
Cassidy celebrates her own 65th birthday on Monday when she will attend in the Netherlands flying the biggest gathering in a decade of worldwide thalidomide survivors, some 350 people.
She is reflecting on “who will be the last thalidomider (STET) standing in the world” and asks “how could we have had to do this for so long. Our health is failing and there are very few remaining mothers,” of those affected by thalidomide.