Industrial homes failed to care

FROM 1859 to 1969, 105,000 children were taken into industrial homes in Ireland. They were often large and uninviting buildings, designed to make economies of scale, with staff morale poor and workers displaying aloofness from charges who may have been orphaned or separated from their mothers because they were born out of wedlock.

The legacy of abuse is well known in the Republic, but a major inquiry is now examining its legacy in the North.

Christine Smith QC said that institutions were run during the Victorian era of the 1800s by religious orders for spiritual purposes. Rehabilitation entailed turning the child into a productive member of society.