Irish thalidomide survivors have said they are “devastated and so hurt” that the Government statement this week saying sorry for the hardships they suffered was not the apology they were looking for.
The statement from Taoiseach Simon Harris, Tánaiste Micheál Martin and Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman came after the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday in which an enhanced package of supports for remaining survivors was announced.
There had been engagement between Government representatives and thalidomide survivors from April 2023, though talks have since broken down.
Irish Thalidomide Association (ITA) member Finola Cassidy said the 40 remaining survivors “really thought we were on a step forward to sorting this”.
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“A statement of regret blaming the regulatory standards at the time is not coming to the table and owning their hand, act and part in choosing deliberately not to withdraw the drug,” she told RTÉ radio 1′s Brendan O’Connor Show.
Thalidomide was introduced as a drug for morning sickness in the mid-1950s, but was withdrawn from most markets worldwide in 1961 after widespread evidence of birth defects. Yet it was retained on the shelves in Ireland until 1964.
Ms Cassidy said the then government was worried that a quick withdrawal of the drug would alarm many expectant mothers into miscarrying.
“They [the present Government] have to say that they own this. I have stood in front of many of the Cabinet. There isn’t anybody I know who does not acknowledge the State’s role in this tragedy,” she said.
[ ‘As a child I told people my fingers fell off and my hand shrunk in the wash’Opens in new window ]
“The mindset is so wrong,” Ms Cassidy said of the Government statement this week. “I just couldn’t believe that they were dealing with an attempt at regret and sympathy knowing that mothers and whole families and their lifetime of history was going to be in that statement.
“Instead, they stuck in a sentence about giving us a free bus pass. That was extraordinary. It was so ill-advised, I can’t tell you how ill-advised it was.”
She said the members of the ITA would make a decision on how to proceed once all had given their input.
She urged the Government to “reach out to us and figure out why they have got this so wrong”.
Ms Cassidy said the proper course would be for a public apology on the record of the Dáil similar to the one offered by the Australian government.
“I’m in court since 2012 as are 22 of us. It is very difficult that they are not trying to engage to end our trauma. This is the legacy that they are leaving for us.”
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