IRELAND
Irish Independent
Maeve Lewis
PUBLISHED
23/03/2015
When the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse began its work, hundreds of adults who had grown up in the care of the State gave evidence about their experiences in the residential institutions.
A horrifying story began to emerge, as witness after witness gave consistent, compelling accounts of emotional and physical abuse, sexual abuse, cruelty and neglect.
The witnesses spoke on the understanding that the records of their testimony would be destroyed when the final report was published. Many of them had never spoken before about their experiences and some had never told anybody, even wives and husbands, about what they had endured.
Some still carried immense shame and were afraid that their histories could be accessed inappropriately.
Following the publication of the Ryan Report in 2009, Irish people were shocked, saddened and outraged by what the children had endured.
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