Danny Kennedy MLA, Ulster Unionist Assembly Member for Newry & Armagh and Minister for Regional Development attended a Memorial Service in Mount Jerome Cemetery, Dublin today (Wednesday) to the children who died in Bethany Home between 1922 and 1949.
After a short religious service, a new Memorial was dedicated in memory of 222 children who died in the Bethany Home, which was a facility administered by the main Protestant denominations in the Republic of Ireland after the state was formed. Representatives from the main Protestant Churches were present at the event, in addition to the Lord Mayor of Dublin and senior political figures.
Mr Kennedy said:
“I have lobbied the Irish Government seeking justice along with proper recognition and compensation for the victims of Bethany and other former Protestant run Homes. I pay tribute to the Bethany Survivors Group, in particular Derek Linster, Niall Meehan and their campaigners, for all their hard work in campaigning to achieve recognition for the victims, and will continue to assist them in any way I can.’
In a short address to the congregation, Mr Kennedy said that the service represented an acknowledgement of the clear mistakes of the past, and the hope that such mistakes would never again be repeated.