Minister Foley encourages survivors to apply for representation opportunities

Minister for Children, Disability and Equality Norma Foley has today encouraged survivors to apply for representation opportunities in three key structures.

Applications are invited from today from survivors and affected persons who are interested in the four positions available on the National Centre for Remembrance steering group to be part of the decision-making process.

This is a direct response to the feedback received from a series of in-person engagement events with survivors that were held in Dublin, Galway, Cork and London between October 2024 and February 2025, as well as an online event.

There are opportunities for survivors to join the National Museum of Ireland’s Lived Experience expert panels for the National Centre for Remembrance so that the vision to honour all survivors equally and authentically in the National Centre is achieved.

There are also up to 35 positions available for survivors on the Special Advocate for Survivors Advisory Council.

Expressions of interest in these positions are invited from Survivors and Affected Persons of:

• Industrial School Institutions and Reformatory Institutions
• Magdalen Laundries
• Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions
• Boarded out arrangements
• Historic adoption practices and illegal birth registration
• Any of the above who live overseas

Minister Foley is encouraging survivors to consider these opportunities:

"It is essential that the voice and views of survivors and affected persons are at the heart of the development of the National Centre. I am keen to ensure that there is the best possible representation on the steering group for the National Centre for Remembrance. I was pleased to secure agreement at Cabinet earlier this summer for survivor representatives to have their places on the group and would encourage people to apply for these positions and for the creative panels being established by the National Museum of Ireland.

"Since her appointment, the Special Advocate has engaged with over 1,200 people both here in Ireland and abroad. She is now moving to establish an Advisory Council of Survivors to support her in her ongoing work. I would like to thank survivors and former residents for their continued engagement with the Special Advocate, and encourage them to consider applying for the Advisory Council. It is only through ongoing engagement that we can ensure the voices of survivors continue to be a central input in government deliberations which affect them."

Anyone who is interested in these opportunities should complete the Expression of Interest Form here. People can express an interest in more than one position, if they wish to do so.

Applications are open from today (5 August) and remain open until 19 September 2025.

The National Centre for Remembrance, to be located in Sean MacDermott Street, Dublin 1, will comprise a museum and exhibition space, a research centre and repository of records related to institutional trauma in the 20th century, and a garden space for reflection and remembrance. This Centre will honour equally all those who spent time in Industrial Schools, Magdalen Laundries, Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions, Reformatories, and related institutions, and all those who have lived experience of Ireland’s historical adoption and boarded out systems.

The Steering Group for the overall development of the National Centre is responsible for developing the overall vision of the Centre.

The museum element of the National Centre will be part of the National Museum of Ireland. The Lived Experienced Expert Panels will support the National Museum with the co-design and co-curation of exhibitions in the National Centre.

The National Centre campus will also make a valuable contribution to the social and economic development of Dublin’s North East Inner City, through the provision of social housing units, further and higher educational facilities, and facilities for family and parenting supports.

Special Advocate for Survivors

Patricia Carey was appointed to the role of Special Advocate for Survivors of Institutional Abuse in March 2024.

The role of the Special Advocate for Survivors of Institutional Abuse is to ensure that the views of Survivors and Affected Persons are central to the delivery of the State's response to the legacy of institutional trauma and forced family separation.

The Special Advocate is operationally independent of Government.

Since her appointment, her priority as Special Advocate has been to hear people's experiences of institutional and other forms of abuse and injustice.

The Special Advocate uses the accounts shared with her to amplify and represent Survivor’s and Affected People’s views to Government.

The Advisory Council will further ensure that the work of the Special Advocate is informed by the lived experience and needs of those most centrally affected.