The only acceptable outcome in the matter of the Tuam mass grave is the immediate convening of an inquest into the deaths of all the children recorded as dying within it, for whom no burial record exists – Tuam Home Survivors Network.

The way forward is to seek the truth, to reveal and address the damage of the past and to ensure that mothers and children are cherished and respected and never stigmatised again.

Historian Catherine Corless, who spent four years researching the running of the Bon Secours home and concluded that 796 children had died there over almost four decades, said the Commission’s finding vindicated her work.

Terms of reference to include mortality rates, burial practices, forced adoption and clinical trials.