UNIONS AND employers are being requested to allow workers in Dublin an early lunchbreak next Wednesday so they can take part in a silent march of solidarity with survivors of institutional abuse, as detailed in the recent Ryan report.
The march will leave Parnell Square for the Dáil at noon. Participants will carry one banner with the words “Cherishing all of the children of the nation equally”, a quote from the 1916 Proclamation.
Organised by Survivors of Institutional Abuse Ireland, it will be led by Christine Buckley of Aislinn, John Kelly of Survivors of Child Abuse Ireland, Noel Barry of Right of Place, and Michael O’Brien of Right to Peace, who is also a former mayor of Clonmel.
When it arrives at the Dáil, it will hand a petition to Sr Elizabeth Maxwell, a Presentation nun who is former president and former secretary general of Cori. Copies will be handed to representatives of the 18 religious congregations which took part in the 2002 redress agreement with the State.
The organisers hope everyone will wear a white ribbon to tie to the Dáil railings and bring a child’s shoe to lay at the base.
People who cannot attend are asked to wear a white ribbon and to sign and post on a petition of solidarity. It is available at www.irishsolidarity.ie.
