Letter to the Editor: Many women are owed apologies

The Mother and Baby Home Commission of Investigation may be seeking evidence for the allegation that unmarried motherhood was considered akin to a criminal act.

If so, they need look no further than 1984 and the case of Garda Majella Moynihan. She was charged under garda regulations with having premarital sex with another garda and “give[ing] birth to a child outside wedlock”. The charge and its relentless, cruel, imposition had devastating personal consequences, as RTÉ radio’s Documentary on One so chillingly detailed.