Fergus Finlay: The truth is being exhumed in Tuam. But will Ireland ever face it?

The Tuam excavations must not be the end of the story — they must mark the start of real justice

Anna Corrigan visits Tuam cemetery as breaking of the ground started at the Mother and Baby site in the town. Anna's brothers John and William Dolan are believed to be among the children buried at the Tuam site. Picture: Ray Ryan

Do you know that great anti-war song, 'The Green Fields of France', with its closing line, “The killing and dying were all done in vain, for young Willie McBride, it all happened again and again and again and again and again …” That’s Tuam. It’s abuse and complicity. It never seems to end.

I’ve written before about Tuam. I’ve written about Eamonn Casey and Micheal Cleary. It’s still impossible to approach any of those subjects without an overwhelming sensation of anger and shame. I first wrote about Tuam years ago. And I can still remember tossing and turning for nights after it was all revealed.