merrion street

The United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children, Marta Santos Pais left Dublin this evening at the end of a two day visit to participate in an international jury to oversee the design competition of a memorial to victims of childhood abuse in institutions in Ireland.  The commissioning of a memorial was recommended by the Ryan Report. The jury is expected to deliver its recommendations to Education Minister Ruairi Quinn shortly.

The Special Representative participated in the jury at the invitation of Minister Quinn whom she met yesterday.

The Minister commented

I am delighted that Ms. Santos Pais agreed to participate as an international member of the jury to select the Memorial and has been able to come to Ireland to collaborate with the other members of the jury in their work.   Her willing involvement in this project is a testament to the seriousness with which we, and our colleagues in the UN, take this dark chapter in our country's history. I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to all the jury members for their work on this important project.  The Memorial was recommended in the Ryan Report, which was fully endorsed by Dáil Éireann.