{"id":938498,"date":"2026-10-23T21:28:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T21:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/938498\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T21:28:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T21:28:17","slug":"thalidomide-survivors-a-glaring-omission-from-list-of-recent-recipients-of-state-apologies-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/938498\/","title":{"rendered":"Thalidomide survivors a \u2018glaring omission\u2019 from list of recent recipients of State apologies \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Renewed calls have been made for the Government to urgently issue a State apology to the remaining thalidomide<\/a> survivors following the Taoiseach\u2019s formal apology to the family of the late prison officer Brian Stack<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Former Ceann Comhairle Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl said the State had recently issued a number of \u201clong sought and richly deserved apologies\u201d.<\/p>\n

That includes apologies to the victims of paedophile Bill Kennelly<\/a>, the family of Shane O\u2019Farell<\/a> who was killed in a hit-and-run incident, the survivors of institutional abuse, the families of the Stardust<\/a> victims and for the CervicalCheck scandal<\/a>. <\/p>\n

But \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl said the \u201cglaring omission\u201d from the list is \u201cthe survivors of thalidomide, the 40 or so people still living who were abjectly failed by the State over 60 years ago\u201d. <\/p>\n

He asked when they \u201cand maybe even more significantly the tiny number of remaining mothers who are at very advanced age\u201d would receive the apology \u201cto which they are most definitely entitled and the supports they need to live out the rest of their lives in dignity\u201d.<\/p>\n

Thalidomide was a drug developed in the 1950s to treat morning sickness during pregnancy.<\/p>\n

It was withdrawn from most markets in 1961 following widespread evidence it was linked to birth defects but continued to be sold in Ireland until 1964.<\/p>\n

Many children were born without limbs or with shortened limbs, with hearing and vision impairment and internal organ injuries.<\/p>\n

When \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl raised it in the D\u00e1il, Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill<\/a> said there is a \u201cstrong desire\u201d to address \u201cvery real concerns\u201d. She expects they \u201cmay 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\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018Say sorry and put an end to it\u2019: Why are Thalidomide survivors still waiting for a State apology?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The association also wants recognition of the \u201cunacknowledged\u201d survivors whose mothers took the drug after it had been officially withdrawn, statutory supports and a fair compensation scheme.<\/p>\n

Finola Cassidy<\/a> of the ITA said: \u201cWhile the Government has indicated a State apology will follow eventually we fear that some of our survivors and families won\u2019t be around to hear it and we\u2019ve repeatedly asked for it to happen in good faith as soon as possible.\u201d <\/p>\n

The association last met the Taoiseach, T\u00e1naiste, the Attorney General and senior officials in June with a further meeting scheduled for the autumn.<\/p>\n

\u201cMiche\u00e1l and Simon have said they have taken personal and political responsibility,\u201d Cassidy said.<\/p>\n

She has been contacted by Government and \u201cI am assured that an early date will be found to recommence the discussion\u201d.<\/p>\n

This meeting is very important because \u201csome of the issues still being negotiated remain challenging,\u201d including finding the right compensation scheme and the promised legislation to give statutory effect to the healthcare supports for remaining survivors. <\/p>\n

\u201cSince 2017 they have repeatedly said they are working on the heads of a Bill on a Thalidomide and we\u2019ve repeatedly asked to see these heads of the Bill and continue to seek that.\u201d<\/p>\n

November marks the 65th anniversary of the international withdrawal of the thalidomide drug and the failure of the State to act on that notification.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

She is reflecting on \u201cwho will be the last thalidomider (STET) standing in the world\u201d and asks \u201chow could we have had to do this for so long. Our health is failing and there are very few remaining mothers,\u201d of those affected by thalidomide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Renewed calls have been made for the Government to urgently issue a State apology to the remaining thalidomide…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":938499,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[64,63,137,504800,504801,490],"class_list":["post-938498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-health","tag-irish-thalidomide-association-ita-spokesperson-with-others-bef","tag-irish-thalidomide-survivors-met-cross-party-politicians-at-leins","tag-medication"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=938498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/938499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=938498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=938498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=938498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}