"What we have found, in one word, is a disgrace." – Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald on a report that found 196 children died between 2000 and 2010 while in the State's care system.
"We were crying out for help, but it never arrived. We still wonder how things might have turned out differently." – Orla Kavanagh, whose son Devlin died aged 14, a year after entering the State's care system.
"This is a sad, shameful day. Nearly 200 children died, showing we still havent learned from the litany of reports published in the last two decades." – Ashley Balbirnie, chief executive of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
"I have been welcomed to Ireland as if I belonged to you. You have stood by us in our times of troubles . . . These troubles are not yet all over and I am confident that you will continue to stand with us." – Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi addresses a crowd in Dublin.
"I would like to thank my government for not killing me." – Azerbaijani blogger and political activist Emin Milli, who spent 16 months in prison after using Twitter and Facebook to reveal government abuses, speaking at a conference on internet freedom hosted under Ireland's chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
"Think of Ceausescu, Stalin and that kind of communist oppression because that is what they are holding up and standing for today." – Senator Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fáil) gropes for the mot juste to describe Fine Gael's decision not to participate in a Seanad debate on plans to abolish the House.