Kerry Babies: A watershed in changing rigid old values of Irish society

Donal Hickey covered the six-month tribunal into the case. Here, he recounts how Joanne Hayes was subjected to relentless pressure in the witness box as Garda legal representatives tried to portray her as a woman of ‘loose morals’.

Donal Hickey covered the six-month tribunal into the case. Here, he recounts how Joanne Hayes was subjected to relentless pressure in the witness box as Garda legal representatives tried to portray her as a woman of ‘loose morals’.

The Kerry Babies Tribunal was supposed to last two to three weeks. It began in Tralee in the frost of early January 1985 and finished in Dublin Castle in sunny June after 82 days of hearings.