Eamon Martin, Archbishop of Armagh and the Primate of All Ireland, said many in the church and society were “ashamed” and that he wanted to “establish the truth, the whole truth about what happened”.

Amnesty first called on the Northern Ireland Executive to set up an inquiry into the homes four years ago.

It has stepped up its call following the discovery of human remains south of the border at a Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, Co Galway.

Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty’s Northern Ireland programme director (pictured), said: “Amnesty welcomes the Archbishop’s support for an inquiry into Mother and Baby Homes in Northern Ireland, something that we and victims have been requesting for many years.

“It is regrettable that Northern Ireland government ministers previously failed to establish an inquiry. But following the discoveries at Tuam, a wider inquiry under way in the Republic, and now the Archbishop’s support, there is a momentum to discover the truth about what happened in such homes north of the border.

“We are calling for archaeological site surveys at all former Mother and Baby Homes in Northern Ireland and a proper investigation into the human rights abuses which are alleged at the institutions.”