2015 in pics and quotes - December

In our year in review series, we look back at December 2015.

• “The congregation were directed by the Commission of Inquiry into vaccine trials to destroy all documents in their possession regarding the trials.” — A statement from the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary, the order that ran the Bessborough mother and baby home. The Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse said it issued no such instruction.
• “During these toughest days they offered compassion, empathy and protection at a time when we needed it most.” — The families of those who died in the Berkeley balcony collapse in California, paying tribute to Fr Brendan McBride of the Irish ImmigrationPastoral Centre in San Francisco and diplomat Philip Grant.
• “I believe that Tom Murphy has been treated unfairly. All citizens have the right to be judged by a jury of their peers. I have been asked if I consider Tom Murphy a good republican. The answer to that is yes.” — Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams after former IRA leader Thomas ‘Slab’ Murphy was convicted in the Special Criminal Court of tax evasion.