Society shunned them, the State abused them, and the Church exploited them but Ireland has finally laid a welcome mat for the women of the Magdalene laundries.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny was urged to declare homelessness as a national emergency as people in temporary accommodation looked on from the Dáil’s public gallery.

"We want to see as many of them as possible." This was the one-line response from Enda Kenny when he was asked — at the launch of his party’s election campaign in 2011 — if female representation would increase under a Fine Gael government.

The Government’s offer to establish a mediation process overseen by a judge to determine what women who underwent symphysiotomies want has received a mixed response from those representing the victims.