{"id":536176,"date":"2026-07-06T18:46:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T18:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/536176\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T18:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T18:46:08","slug":"thalidomide-survivors-disappointed-over-government-belief-more-work-needed-before-state-apology-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/536176\/","title":{"rendered":"Thalidomide survivors disappointed over Government belief more work needed before State apology \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is some disappointment among thalidomide<\/a> survivors over a Government belief that more work needs to be done before the State can issue an apology. <\/p>\n

The Irish Thalidomide Association (ITA) said there has been \u201ca little bit of headway\u201d towards resolving outstanding issues following a meeting with Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> and T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris<\/a> on Monday. <\/p>\n

A commitment has been given that there will be a State apology, with Harris previously saying 2026 \u201chas to be the year where we bring some degree of closure to people who\u2019ve been treated so badly\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, the issue of \u201cunacknowledged\u201d survivors remains outstanding.<\/p>\n

There are about 40 thalidomide survivors in Ireland, though of these, 12 are unacknowledged by the State.<\/p>\n

Thalidomide was developed in Germany<\/a> in the 1950s as a sedative or tranquilliser, but was later widely promoted as a drug to treat morning sickness during pregnancy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was withdrawn from most markets in 1961 following widespread evidence of its link to birth defects, but was still sold in Ireland until 1964.<\/p>\n

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

In September 2024, the Government appointed retired High Court<\/a> judge Paul Gilligan to engage with thalidomide survivors in what is known as the thalidomide resolution process.<\/p>\n

There is an outstanding issue around 12 \u201cunacknowledged\u201d thalidomide survivors whose mothers took the drug after it had been officially withdrawn.<\/p>\n

The ITA wants a State apology, recognition of the unacknowledged survivors, statutory supports and a fair compensation scheme to be introduced.<\/p>\n

After Monday\u2019s meeting, ITA spokeswoman Finola Cassidy said there had been \u201ca big focus\u201d on the issue of unacknowledged survivors, adding \u201cwe made a little bit of headway\u201d and \u201cwe now have a bit of a slightly more game plan\u201d. <\/p>\n

She also told RT\u00c9 Radio\u2019s Drivetime that members of the ITA \u201ccannot wait any longer\u201d and \u201csadly, I think there will be other people who will have passed before the end of this year, and we are broken-hearted\u201d.<\/p>\n

Cassidy said: \u201cWe feel that if we got to a resolution of how that process of acknowledging them [the unacknowledged survivors] will take place, that would be really, really crucial.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cWe are still slightly disappointed that they want a lot more done before the apology will happen. We had previously asked that the apology would be fast-tracked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cassidy said the State has \u201cto accept their hand, act and part in the historical legacy, and then there has to be financial recompense\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said there \u201cprobably has been has been good headway on some of the medical help that has been required\u201d but also that this \u201chas to be on a statutory basis\u201d.<\/p>\n

After the meeting, a Government spokesman said: \u201cThe Taoiseach, T\u00e1naiste and the Attorney General met with the Irish Thalidomide Association and their legal representative today. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe priority remains unchanged: to work on a fair and credible pathway for unacknowledged survivors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Government is committed to ensuring that acknowledged survivors continue to receive practical, person-centred supports and services to help them live independently and with dignity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Taoiseach and T\u00e1naiste remain committed to further engagement in the autumn.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There is some disappointment among thalidomide survivors over a Government belief that more work needs to be done…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":536177,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[292,103,73,61,60,1843,9386,70,90215],"class_list":["post-536176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-germany","tag-health","tag-high-court","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-micheal-martin","tag-pregnancy","tag-simon-harris","tag-thalidomide"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}