The Reformatory and Industrial Schools Systems Report (Kennedy Report) was the result of an inquiry carried out from 1967-1970 by a committee headed by District Justice Eileen Kennedy. Although the terms of reference of this Committee were originally restricted to the reformatory and industrial schools, the Minister subsequently agreed that the Committee’s inquiries should include all children in care. The overall impact of their findings led the Kennedy Report to recommend the abolition of “the institutional system of residential care”.

The abridged version of this report was published in May 1996. It is a report on the inquiry into the operation of Madonna House, Merrion Rd, Dublin. Details of allegations of sexual abuse are withheld from the report for legal reasons.

The Louis Lentin documentary 'Dear Daughter' brought the abuse suffered by Christine Buckley and others at the Goldenbridge orphanage in Dublin to public attention when it was first broadcast in 1996.

The RTÉ series 'States of Fear' produced by Mary Raftery documented persistent abuse of children in industrial schools and reformatories run by religious orders over decades. When broadcast in 1999 'States of Fear' challenged how the institutions of the State and the Catholic Church had treated vulnerable individuals.

On May 11th, 1999, then taoiseach Bertie Ahern apologised on behalf of the Irish people to those who had spent their childhoods in residential institutions run by 18 religious congregations.  His apology came before the broadcast of the final episode of the three-part States of Fear series by Mary Raftery, which detailed abuses of children in such institutions. It was broadcast by RTÉ on a weekly basis, beginning on April 27th.

Ahern apologised to people who had been in such institutions while also announcing the setting up of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse and the establishment of the Redress Board.

"Our Boys' Stories – Stolen Lives" (1999): A documentary series sharing personal narratives of abuse in Ireland's industrial schools during the mid-20th century

Song for a Raggy Boy (2003): A drama based on true events, depicting abuse and a teacher's fight against a sadistic regime in a Catholic reformatory school in 1939 Ireland

Published on 25th October 2005, The Ferns Report was the result of the Fern Inquiry which was established in 2003 to investigate allegations, and the response to these allegations, of child sexual abuse by members of the clergy in the diocese of Ferns from 1962-2002.

The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (CICA) was one of a range of measures introduced by the Irish Government to investigate the extent and effects of abuse on children from 1936 onwards. Commencing its work in 1999, it was commonly known in Ireland as the Laffoy Commission after its chair, Justice Mary Laffoy. Laffoy resigned as chair in 2003 and was succeeded by Justice Sean Ryan, with the commission becoming known as the Ryan Commission. It published its final public report, commonly referred to as the Ryan report, in 2009.

The Report by Commission of Investigation into Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin (The Murphy Report) was published by the Minister for Justice and Equality on 29 November 2009. It is an investigation into the handling of child sexual abuse cases in the Dublin diocese between 1975 and 2004.

The Report by the Commission of Investigation into Catholic Diocese of Cloyne was published in December 2010. It scrutinises how both the Catholic Church and State authorities handled allegations of abuse against 19 clerics in the Co. Cork diocese.

This report, responding to the Ferns, Cloyne, Murphy and Ryan reports, was commissioned by Amnesty International Ireland and compiled by Dr Carole Horohan. It was launched by Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald on 26 September 2011.

RTE 1 broadcast ‘Behind the Walls’  a two-part documentary series produced and written by Mary Raftery in September.

Caranua (the service name of the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund) established under the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act, 2012. The Caranua Board first met in March 2013. 

March 2018 the Board of Caranua announced that survivors eligible to apply to Caranua contact the organisation by Wednesday 1st August 2018 as application received after that date could not be processed.

May 2019:  ‘Facing the future together’ conference takes place in Trinity College Dublin to mark the 20th anniversary of the State apology to the survivors of institutional abuse and the 10th anniversary of the publication of the Commission to inquire into child abuse ‘the Ryan Report’.

July 2019:  High Court judgement ‘v’ independent Appeals Officer. Mr Justice Garrett Simons found that the Board of Caranua ‘has an express statutory discretion to amend or revoke any criteria previously determined by it.

August 2019: On Friday 2nd August the Minister for Education and Skills published a research report that looks at how to plan for and develop future survivor led consultation talks.

December 2019: 6,121 people had been confirmed eligible to apply to Caranua and €92.5 million in funding supports have been allocated to date.

The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and certain related matters was established by the Irish Government in February 2015 to provide a full account of what happened to vulnerable women and children in Mother and Baby Homes during the period 1922 to 1998. It submitted its final report to the Minister on 30 October 2020.

12 January 2021, the Irish government published the Final Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes

March 23^rd 2021 - closing message to survivors from Rachel Downes CEO Caranua. 

24th March. 2021. The Department of Education take over management of certain functions of the organisation until wind down legislation is brought before the Houses of the Oireachtas.

RTÉ Investigates - Christian Brothers Abuse and Accountability