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News 16 September 2004
Mainstream
is delighted to have acquired the rights to KATHY'S STORY by
Kathy O'Beirne. The Magdalen Laundries made international headlines
with Peter Mullan's award winning film of the same name which put
the abuse which went on there on to a world stage. The laundries
operated for over eight decades. Thousands of young Irish girls,
already orphaned or at risk in the community, were incarcerated
in homes run by nuns and subjected to punishing work routines.
Many were beaten and sexually abused. Those who became pregnant
had their babies taken from them and shipped to the US.
The overall involvement by the clergy has been exposed by articles, documentaries and the book, STATES OF FEAR. However a survivor of the horrific system has never told their personal story - until now. Kathy O'Beirne spent nearly 14 years under the Magdalen Laundry regime. At the age of eight her father called and asked if she wanted to go to the seaside. She was thrilled and ran to the front door only to find a nun waiting for her. She was taken to a Magdalen Laundry and didn't return home until she was 21. For the next two years she was sexually abused and beaten. After attempting to rebel against the system she was classified as mentally ill and transferred to a mental hospital where the abuse continued with the addition of regular electric shock treatments. At 13, back in another Magdalen Laundry, Kathy was raped and became pregnant. Her baby was born with an illness and spent the rest of her short life in a home run by nuns who buried her in a mass grave. Kathy still doesn't know where her baby is buried. Miraculously she survived but has chosen to tell her story in the hope that she can help other victims of the Magdalen Sisters Laundry Scandal and help remember all those who died and were buried in mass graves, without coffins or headstones. World rights are available. For further information contact fiona.brownlee@mainstreampublishing.com
The Independent have bought second rights to LANCASHIRE: WHERE WOMEN DIE OF LOVE and are running an extract from the chapter on bulls.
The Independent on Sunday have commissioned the author Charles
Nevin to write a 1,000 word piece on why Lancashire is the centre
of national humour and comics. It is scheduled to run 19 September.
The Lancashire Evening Post are also running a feature and the
Liverpool Daily Post are interviewing Charles for an article to
appear the end of September.
A
news story written by Neil Doyle, author of TERROR TRACKER,
was splashed on the front page of the Sunday Express. Headlined "New
UK Cyanide Bombs Fear", it reveals al-Qaeda's plans to use
chemical weapons in attacks on Britain. The terror network's quest
to acquire such weapons is just one of the subjects explored in
TERROR TRACKER. Interest in the book continues with two other national
newspapers lined up to do either features or extracts from the
book.
TERROR TRACKER was recently the focus of a two-part CBS News special on cyber-terrorism, which was watched by around 25 million people. It included an interview with the author and some extracts from a cache of secret al-Qaeda video and audio tapes that feature highly in the book.
And Finally...
Suzanne Schlosberg this week attained the accolade of getting coverage on national TV without actually having to go on camera. 1001 NIGHTS WITHOUT SEX was the subject of a discussion on Loose Women (ITV) at 1pm on Tuesday and the book was prominently displayed.