Catherine Corless forced an official inquiry, but it seems that the HSE had already been aware of some of the disturbing allegations about Bessborough and Tuam for some time, writes Conall Ó Fatharta.

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The religious order which ran the Sean Ross Abbey mother and baby home has put a large part of the campus up for sale, just six months after placing the Bessborough mother and baby home in Cork on the market.

A leading doctor has warned the Government that future generations will accuse it of ignoring A&E overcrowding “abuse” in the same way as “clerical sex abuse, the Tuam babies and Magdalene Laundry scandals” unless they immediately tackle the crisis.

The HSE has refused to say why concerns about infant deaths and possible trafficking from Bessborough in Cork and the Tuam Mother and Baby Home were not reported to the then health minister.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue has today backed recent comments made by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin pointing to a “justified resentment among priests and … committed Catholics”.

The Tuam mother and baby home should not be treated as an individual scandal, but as part of a national trafficking network that commodified people, says Conall Ó Fátharta.

The names of almost 800 children who died in two of the country’s largest mother and baby homes were given to the HSE by a religious order in 2011.

“Uncharted waters” is how one senior garda described the situation facing the authorities in responding to Tuam.

Concern has been expressed that any evidence given to the Mother and Baby Homes Commission is not admissible in any future criminal proceedings.

There has been much comment on the need for the terms of reference for the Mother and Baby Homes Commission to be expanded.

The crucial point to note here is that despite all the hand-wringing by politicians, and the repeated utterances of that word “shocking” — the State was well aware of issues around infant deaths and Tuam long before Ms Corless’ work became global news, writes Conall Ó Fátharta

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The State feared a “public scandal” in relation to the alarming number of children dying in mother and baby homes — 70 years before the Tuam babies scandal made worldwide headlines.

As Bessborough was investigated, the nuns were told don’t co-operate, writes Conall Ó Fatharta

The Pro Life Campaign group says it is too early to say whether a criminal investigation should be carried out in relation to the Tuam babies scandal.