‘Mary’s Law’ – A draft Bill to Recognise Ireland's Institutional ‘Pre-Deceased’ Persons
Memorialisation: Recognition, Reconciliation & Paying it Forward!
Yesterday, 54 years ago, Mary Julia Breheny died within the infamous High Park Magdalene Laundry in Dublin, having spent over 40 years within that Institution.
To mark that anniversary, I formally launched a bid to bring a draft Bill, also known as “Mary’s Law”, before members of the Oireachtas, in the hope that I can secure support or sponsorship for this important initiative.
“Mary’s Law” takes its name from my Grandmother who spent over 42 years as an inmate within Ireland’s Magdalene system.
Mary’s story, whilst different, offers so many connections to the experiences of many other women. In 1930, both she and my Grandfather (Patrick Cleary), (both from the Portumna area in Co. Galway), had been known to be ‘sweet’ on each other for some time. Upon discovery that she was pregnant, they were denied a dowry and marriage. She subsequently passed through the Loughrea County Home, gave birth in Galway Central Hospital, remained with my Father (also Frank Brehany) for the first 10 days of his life and was then transferred to the Tuam Mother & Baby Home. One year later, she was ‘released’ from the Tuam home and 15 weeks later, she was transferred to the High Park Magdalene Laundry in Dublin. She remained in High Park until her death in 1972. She was one of the 155 women purported to have been exhumed from High Park in 1993 and reinterred in Glasnevin cemetery in Dublin; questions on her death and disposal remain.
My Father remained in Tuam until he was 5 years of age and then ‘boarded-out’ and eventually ‘worked-out’ until he was about 20 years of age when he emigrated to England to seek a new life. My Grandfather appeared before the Portumna District Court on 14/4/1931, charged with being a ‘putative father’, a charge he did not deny; Patrick’s story is very interesting and I continue to receive information about what happened at that time and the very sad issues flowing from this deeply personal event.
As I researched my family ‘Institutional’ history, I realised that there is a failure to properly recognise the status of ‘pre-deceased’ persons who were once inmates of Ireland’s Institutional system (Mother and Baby Homes, Magdalene Laundries, Industrial Schools etc). This category of people are found within the many women and children who died before a State Apology for Institutional wrongs or the limitations imposed by a Redress Scheme; such an apology or scheme prevented them and their families from progressing any type of a claim within a Redress scheme.
‘Pre-deceased’ lives are not formally recognised.
My Grandmother and Father are what I term as ‘pre-deceased persons’ or the ‘invisible dead’.
To rectify that deficit, I created a draft Bill entitled: The Institutions (Pre-deceased Persons – Amendments) Bill 2026:
My draft Bill provides for the recognition of those ‘pre-deceased’ persons through:
An ‘In Memoriam’ payment made, following an application by a surviving family, to a State registered charity;
Surviving family applicants to then receive a co-signed copy of the relevant state apology by An Taoiseach & Uachtarán na hÉireann;
The ‘pre-deceased’ person and their representatives will receive a formal recognised status within any state created transitional justice initiatives;
My draft Bill is accompanied by a breakdown of its public expenditure cost.
The Bill is a relatively short Bill and provides for various existing laws or processes to be amended by the Minister, to reflect its provisions. The Bill contains an interpretation section and also features standard clauses which also appear within Oireachtas Bills/Acts. The sum suggested in my Bill for an ‘In Memoriam’ payment is set at €25,000. The scheme under my Bill is scheduled to run for 25 years. Attached to the Bill is a breakdown of the ‘In Memoriam’ value paid to applicants from year 1 to year 25. The Bill’s breakdown creates a realistic tapering off of applications and therefore the value paid to applicants. The total value paid to applicants over its 25 year term is estimated to be €29,750,000.
Apart from the financial implications, there is the question of what value does this Bill bring to the State or the government?
Historical Institutional issues contain many running sores and public dissatisfaction.
The Bill is an opportunity to reflect upon the patchwork of State Apologies/Redress schemes and to consider how the ‘pre-deceased’ issue could act as a unifier of public opinion; to provide recognition for those who remain present within the Institutional story, but are forgotten; they are invisible. The Bill is an opportunity to increase public recognition that politics listens. It presents many positive political outcomes, particularly within the Institutional community.
The analogy related to ‘listening’ is found within a Northern Ireland legal provision. Reflecting a similar provision in the Republic of Ireland would provide that the Institutional ‘pre-deceased persons’ on the Ireland of Ireland, are universally and politically recognised (whatever about having to balance or harmonise laws in the event of unification). Under Section 6 of the Historical Institutional Abuse (Northern Ireland) Act 2019[1], provision is made for a limited surviving family cohort to make an application for a payment under that scheme (this limitation potentially offers a generational disadvantage). The ‘pre-deceased’ period is set from 28 April 1953 to the State Apology made in March 2022. The amount of compensation is assessed by the Redress Board and shared amongst family members. There is a current debate and concern about the cut-off date for applications which will have an impact on knowledge and generational issues.
Another precedent exists with news that the Irish government is about to offer a State Apology to those affected by their time and experiences within Industrial Schools. This appears to follow on from the recent hunger-strike of those victims from Industrial Schools. Along with a State Apology, the government has apparently stated that the victims from Industrial schools will also be offered a package of supports in health, education, housing & funeral costs.
This most recent precedent in the Republic of Ireland presents an example of what can happen when a government listens, and, secondly, this development clearly bridges the disparity that has existed for this class of victims by comparison to those victims who have benefitted from other Redress Schemes.
It suggests that at this time, the government might be open to closing a loophole or a long-running sore, thereby delivering on their oft repeated claims of wanting to bring justice and closure to so many, particularly the ‘pre-deceased’ whose lives are represented by “Mary’s Law”.
These precedents offer great hope for the Bill I have proposed.
In presenting this draft Bill to members of the Oireachtas, I recognise the challenges that lie ahead. The key challenge arises when a Bill incurs a charge to be paid by the government, for the benefit of those who live in or are connected to the State; there are important Constitutional issues at stake.
I also recognise that whilst it would be ideal to see this Bill introduced as a Government Bill, at this stage it has a higher potential to be introduced as a Private Members Bill. But, as my Bill introduces a public expenditure element, it would need the support of government through them issuing a ‘money message’ to support such expenditure, thus allowing the Bill to proceed to the Committee stage in the Oireachtas.
I do not underestimate the process of the Oireachtas, which is why I hope that members of the Oireachtas will work with me to help me achieve a political consensus for the Bill so that it has the greatest chance in becoming law; ‘Mary’s Law’.
Justice comes in many forms, one of which is recognition.
Through the patchwork of Ireland’s redress schemes and subsequent Acts, I can understand how this important category of persons, victims of a system that delivered failures in their legal and constitutional rights, have been forgotten against the State and Victims & Survivors imperatives.
Whilst there are many who are unhappy with the various schemes to date, I am hoping that through this initiative, a narrative can be created, and positive action secured for this long-forgotten group of individuals and their families.
It is my fervent hope that members of the Oireachtas will support or sponsor my draft Bill and help to develop a consensus to support its provisions.
This Bill is not about enrichment, but of recognition and reconciliation.
I have designed the Bill to pay-forward a small benefit arising from the wrongs of the past, to help those with needs both in the present day and into the future.
It is both a positive and necessary Bill and I believe that it will not only help to close the gap of invisibility, but to also create a positive environment for those who remain aggrieved with a system that was meant to help them.
I stand ready to help members of the Oireachtas to achieve the objectives of my draft Bill, to bring recognition and justice to many thousands of Irish women and children.
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[1] https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/31/contents/enacted