Irish author John Banville recently had an interesting article in the New York Times on Ireland's dark history of institutionalised child abuse, drawn on the authors own biography. A recommended read.

EVERYONE knew. When the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse issued its report this week, after nine years of investigation, the Irish collectively threw up their hands in horror, asking that question we have heard so often, from so many parts of the world, throughout the past century: How could it happen?

www.nytimes.com