“Margaret Bullen was committed to industrial school in 1954. She was 2 yrs 4 mths old. She left 49 years later in a coffin.” Magdalenes hope for an apology after a long fight

Her first tweet simply said: “My mother was Magdalene No. 322. Real name Margaret.”

It was met by a number of reactions, including disbelief that Magdalenes were given numbers.

 “Yes,” replied Samantha Long. “I was looking over her records today and thought I’d share that. Awful.”

The Twitter user was talking about her late mother, Margaret Bullen, a woman taken into the Magdalene Laundries system when she was just two years old.

Just days ahead of the publication of a report into the level of State involvement at the now-infamous institutions, Long decided to share her family’s story.

There had been a campaign to get the hashtag #justiceformagdalenesNOW trending on Twitter to raise awareness last night and the Dublin woman’s provocative, powerful and heartbreaking tweets
achieved that aim.

Senator Martin McAleese’s report has been sent to Justice Minister Alan Shatter, who will publish it in full on Tuesday afternoon, following a Cabinet meeting.

The long-awaited report has been delayed multiple times since the inter-departmental committee was established in response to a recommendation from the United Nations Committee Against Torture (UNCAT).

That body said it was “gravely concerned” at the failure of the State to protect girls and women who were involuntarily confined between 1922 and 1996.

Advocacy groups have called for a full State apology, as well as a proper, transparent compensation scheme for survivors. About 30,000 women were incarcerated in Magdalene Laundries between 1922 and 1996.

The Journal