Ms Kenny said that it was known that silence compounded the feeling of responsibility and shame on survivors which compounded the trauma they experienced.

Speaking on RTÉ radio’s News at One, he said it was shocking to think that one man in particular Fr Patrick Kelly had moved from New York to California and then to Gardiner Street in Dublin and then Limerick.

Fr Tony O’Riordan, who is leading the Jesuits response to the crisis in Aleppo, described seeing “a chilling image of a large articulated truck with bodies in white body bags”.