1/ The (Irish) Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation submitted its final report today. It is 2,865 words long and provides extensive evidence of systematic institutional abuse and neglect targeting unmarried mothers and their babies, for most of the 20th century.

2/ #Socialwork features heavily in the report. Information about Social Workers’ actions (or the lack of) appear in the archival sections of the report, victims’ testimonies and practitioners’ statements.The evidence tells the story of “two, antithetical social work professions”

3/ on the one hand we can see how social work networks as early as in the 1940s confronted the cruelty of these institutions and proposed reforms. Many individual practitioners were also sympathetic and supportive to vulnerable women and children.

4/ sadly the report also tells the story of sustained complicity among social workers who routinely referred women to these institutions, encouraged forced repatriation from Britain, manipulated young women and were involved in shady adoptions.

5/ as a global profession we have a responsibility to listen to victims’ stories, accept responsibility and ensure that we learn from our troubled past. What happened in Ireland resembles the experience of many different countries.