The horrifying situation in Tuam, Co Galway, has been a national shame ever since it was confirmed over a decade ago that the remains of hundreds of children who had died in the local mother and baby home were thrown into a nearby septic tank.

Even now, that bald assertion of fact retains the power to shock. It is an unmatchable illustration of the level of hypocrisy in Irish society over many decades that this was allowed to happen, and the conduct of the Bons Secours nuns — who ran the home for Galway County Council — illustrates that hypocrisy perfectly.

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