Details about the mass burial of infants at a Mother and Baby Home prompt calls for a government inquiry.
Details have emerged about the burial of 796 children on a patch of ground on the Bon Secours home in Tuam, County Galway.
There have been many calls for an enquiry into their treatment and the conditions in which they lived and died.
Advocacy groups for adopted people say that much of the information now coming into the public domain was already known to government departments. If an enquiry is to take place, it must cover all Mother and Baby Homes.
Susan Lohan, Adoption Rights Alliance, is calling for a national enquiry to include all Mother and Baby Homes, all of which have mapped children's graveyards. Minister for Children Charlie Flanagan describes the emerging revelations as a shocking reminder of a darker past in Ireland. He says that the government is considering how to address the revelations.
Opposition parties say that the government plan falls short of what is needed. Gerry Adams, Sinn Féin President, calls on the government to initiate a full public enquiry.
The nation needs to know but most particularly, mothers who have survived need to know what happened to their babies.
Colm Keaveny, Fianna Fáil, wants the Taoiseach to make an immediate statement including an apology to the women and children.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 4 June 2014. The reporter is Joe Mag Raollaigh.
