The statue, the Final Journey, which pays tribute to the pain and suffering experienced by the women of the Magdalene laundry, is located at the corner of Forster Street and Bothár Breandan O Eithir, close to where the laundry institution once stood.
Justice for Magdalenes (JFM), an advocacy group for survivors of Ireland’s Magdalene laundries, said it had become aware that the statue might be relocated.
Professor James Smith, anadvisory committee member of JFM and author of Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries and the Nation’s Architecture of Containment, said moving it would be to "bleach" clean society’s complicity in the abuses meted out to women and young girls in these institutions. He said that victims and survivors deserved better.
Joe Tansey, head of Galway Transportation Unit, said the council was "highly conscious" of the significance of the statue and the appropriate nature of its location in close proximity to the site of the former laundry.
"To accommodate a much needed bus lane in this area, the statue will be moved a few feet from its current location," Mr Tansey said.
"We are also in discussion to ensure that this minor move maximises the visibility of this significant Magdalene Women memorial for members of the public."
We Irish are famed for holding grudges, but we are, in fact, very good at forgetting. Our folk memory recalled the Great Famine of 1845-49, but it wasn’t part of our official memory until late in the 20th century. We forgot all the other famines, including the dreadful famine of 1740-41.
When it suits us, when it continues to damage our international reputation (as it already has, and severely) and when the victims don’t eventually shut up, we’ll decide to forget the Ryan
When it suits us, when it continues to damage our international reputation (as it already has, and severely) and when the victims don’t eventually shut up, we’ll decide to forget the Ryan
Report.
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