Social Democrats councillor Gary Gannon has welcomed tonight’s vote by Dublin City councillors to halt the sale of the last Magdalene Laundry in public ownership to the Toyoko Inn hotel chain.
““I’m delighted that my fellow councillors supported my motion to block the sale of the Magdalene Laundry site at Sean McDermott Street. This Laundry is a site of national historical importance and its sale to the Tokyo Inn hotel chain would have been an act of cultural vandalism.”
Social Democrats councillor Gary Gannon has welcomed tonight’s vote by Dublin City councillors to halt the sale of the last Magdalene Laundry in public ownership to the Toyoko Inn hotel chain.
Cllr Gannon said:
“I’m delighted that my fellow councillors supported my motion to block the sale of the Magdalene Laundry site at Sean McDermott Street. This Laundry is a site of national historical importance and its sale to the Tokyo Inn hotel chain would have been an act of cultural vandalism.
“Tonight’s decision paves the way for the preservation of the site as a place of remembrance and learning. There is now a responsibility on government to listen to the views of elected representatives, survivors and their families, and develop plans for the site that recognise and value the social, cultural and personal history that it symbolises.
“This building provides us an opportunity to create a physical space where future generations can touch the walls and know that what occurred in these institutions were not exaggerated.”
ENDS
13th September 2018