The volunteer historian who uncovered details of a mass grave at the former Mother and Baby Home in Tuam has been honoured as a "fearless campaigner for human rights".

People from the town of Tuam have gathered for a vigil at the Mother and Baby Home there in memory of the children whose remains have been discovered at the site.

THE decision by Finian McGrath, minister of state with responsibility for disabilities, to scrap the terms of reference for the inquiry into the case of the woman known as ‘Grace’ is indicative of a Government confused, bewildered and in disarray in attempting to deal comprehensively with historic and ongoing ill-treatment of our most vulnerable citizens.

Identifying the remains of young children at the Tuam Mother and Baby Home would be technically very difficult and the prospect of establishing causes of death highly unlikely, according to forensic and Garda sources.

Excavations at other mother and baby homes are being demanded after the discovery of “significant quantities” of infant remains at Tuam.

The outline and terms of reference for the investigation into the mother and baby homes will be delayed and now not finalised until the autumn at the earliest, it has been announced.

Children adopted from a mother-and-baby home run by the Sacred Heart Sisters in Cork have called for an independent public inquiry to find out how many babies died at the centre and where the bodies are buried.

Children adopted from a Sacred Heart Sisters’ mother-and-baby home in Cork have called for an independent public inquiry to find out many babies died at the centre and where on the site they are buried.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said he wants to know if there are more mass baby graves at mother-and-baby homes across the country.

An adoption rights campaigner has compared getting information on deaths at mother and baby homes to "trying to penetrate the iron curtain".

The Archbishop of Tuam says it is his understanding that the managers of the mother and baby Home in Tuam handed material to Galway County Council and health authorities in 1961.

The Catholic Church is facing fresh accusations of child neglect after a researcher found records for 796 youngsters believed to be buried in a mass grave beside a former orphanage for the children of unwed mothers.

A hospital has pledged €150,000 to help establish a new suicide crisis centre in Cork.

The Bon Secours nuns marked 150 years in Ireland with the launch of an exhibition last night which highlights their contribution to Irish society.

WITH an asset base worth €2.6 billion, 17 religious orders have been asked by the state to find up to €350 million in cash or property as an additional contribution to the redress deal.

FOUR nuns left Cork yesterday to join the church’s fight against HIV/AIDS in South Africa.

The Government has finally given approval for the construction of a new €50m community hospital and ambulance base in North Galway, it emerged today.