Transparency as a force for real change

Anyone who saw this week’s provocative RTÉ programme on how very young children, some no more than infants, were mistreated in creches will find it hard to forget the experience.

For those who imagined their own children in such an unacceptable, toxic environment the report must be seared in their consciousness and it may have provoked a sleepless night or two.

The images of toddlers being manhandled, ignored or intimidated ran so very counter to age-old instincts that the initial and naturally angry reaction turned to shame and, later, even more anger.