Kerry Babies Tribunal: How the shocking treatment of Joanne Hayes changed Ireland 

The cruel humiliation of Joanne Hayes at the Kerry Babies Tribunal may have helped bring about profound reform in this country, writes Donal Hickey

Hayes was wrongly accused of murdering an infant over 35 years ago END Joanne Hayes at the hearing at the Kerry Babies Tribunal. 1985 Photo: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie

The day a shattered Joanne Hayes jumped from the witness stand, ran out of the room and rushed along a corridor to a toilet where she got physically sick is still etched in memory, almost 36 years later.

After a lifetime in journalism, you forget many stories and only remember the incidents that impressed, amused, shocked, or upset you in a personal way. That day in Tralee remains as vivid as if it was only yesterday.