In the same week that the government voted to cover up systemic abuse of women and children in Mother and Baby Homes, Minister Stephen Donnelly once again betrayed the women at the centre of the Cervical Check scandal.
Last night, Vicky Phelan voiced her anger and hurt in a Twitter thread as she outlined the lies told to her and the other women by Stephen Donnelly and the Department of Health.
The latest betrayal centres around the Tribunal being set up by the state, to investigate the Cervical Check scandal.
Vicky Phelan and the 221+group have spoken out against the terms of this Tribunal, saying the government have not listened to their explicit wishes around how the Tribunal should be carried out to avoid undue trauma for the women involved.
Among their key requests were that a non-adversarial route should be found for the tribunal. This would mean that individual women would not be obliged to fight the labs, which is currently the case as it stands.
Another concern is that due to the government delay in setting up the Tribunal, that some women would be statute barred from some or all aspects of the Tribunal, effectively blocking them from getting justice.
The 221+ group met with Stephen Donnelly to express their concerns, and he gave them his word that he would delay the Tribunal to try and address the issues raised.
The 221+ group then issued a statement in good faith thanking him for finally listening to them and pausing the Tribunal.
Imagine their shock yesterday when they received a phone call saying the order to establish the Tribunal had been signed and it was going ahead, without any of their concerns addressed.
It then emerged that Minister Stephen Donnelly had already signed the order all along – and that it was a done deal even already when he met with the women and lied to them that he would pause it.
The women have vowed they will not engage with the Tribunal as it currently stands. They are heroic in their fight back, despite all they have suffered.
This state has abuse of women at its very core.
Whether its sealing Mother and Baby Home records, or the outsourcing of smear tests to cut costs- women are being failed in this country.