Baby home probe ‘must be widened’

The Government has been urged to broaden the investigation into how unmarried mothers and their children were treated to include all the institutions from which up to 100,000 children were adopted.

A large group of Irish women, some of them mothers, others who had been child victims of the system, spoke of their horrific experiences during a hearing in the European Parliament organised by Sinn Féin.

They fear the terms of reference, due to be announced by the Government this month, will concentrate on around nine institutions identified as mother-and-baby homes.