The Kerry Babies Case

Reports do say that they "provided voluntarily DNA samples but I would think it is somewhat similar to voluntarily providing a breath sample at a roadside breathylizer test, refuse and you will very quickly be advised of your obligations.

Once arrested I expect the provisions of the Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Act 2014 https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2014/act/11/enacted/en/html would come into play.

Assuming they're not the murderer(s) themselves, they covered up for the murderer for 39 years and were only identified because of the actions of someone else.

That's nothing to be proud of even if what happened to the Hayes family had not occurred.

So yes I think it's right that they have serious questions to answer and should be held accountable for their silence if nothing else.

There is a banner headline in The Kerry's Eye this week proclaiming that the DNA proves the two are the parents.

Now The Kerry's Eye is a bit of a rag so I'm not sure how much is true, or who the source is, and I have no interest in buying it to find out more.

The Newstalk piece that is linked recently on this thread is using The Kerry's Eye as it's source.

So right now The Kerry's Eye is the only publication that is saying they are the parents.

Nothing official from the Gardai.

Obviously the Gardai may not be saying anything official for operational reasons seeing as files have been sent to the DPP.

Joanne Hayes for the record, was not vilified by all and sundry. The local people supported her. The general public were horrified at how she and her family were treated.

First I heard of it.

That’s really not saying much tbh.

I didn’t put words in your mouth either. I was the person who said Cahirciveen was idyllic and full of imbeciles. Simplest explanation ‘n’ all that, lucky for the locals I guess that Jessica Fletcher didn’t settle in Cahirciveen, ye got stuck with the Keystone cops instead 😒

I doubt they would ever come forward if it wasn't from dna close relative trace aka a sibling of John giving dna

I feel for the siblings as I think they were not aware but the fact the parents kept quiet all this time is just wrong and paints them in bad light, an innocent family was "tortured"

Of course we don't know all the facts but I make no excuses of my feelings about the parents as they did wrong and stayed quiet, it's a very emotive case especially as a baby was murdered so violently

Don't think a priest is absolved of any responsibility to disclose, by the law of the land.

To say that these institutions “did plenty of good” amounts to not much more than a pithy attempt to justify their existence in the first place. They wouldn’t have been necessary at all had Irish people not wanted to maintain a veneer of “respectability” and supplying these institutions with residents who were ostracised from their communities. People in desperate situations generally do tend to be the easiest to exploit while portraying such exploitation as care. People knew what went on in these places, and families would often threaten their daughters with being sent there if they “brought shame on the family” by becoming pregnant out of wedlock.

Most of the force was in the form of the norms at the time. I can't put an exact time on it, maybe about 1984 when they're was a dramatic fall off in women having their babies adopted. They found a freedom to say, no.

The Indo Daily podcast has a good episode on the Kerry Baby Case. Very emotional journalists that witnessed the treatment of Joanne Hayes with real regrets.

This is true. I was a teenager in the 60s so have first hand experience of single pregnant friends who gave up their babies for adoption. It was society as a whole that influenced their decision. Every aspect of their lives would have been negatively affected if they kept the baby. Education and employment prospects were limited . Men didn’t want to be seen going out with you, let alone marry you. Neighbours looked down on you, and your family was stigmatised. The child would also be stigmatised as he or she grew up. So it wasn’t always that they were “forced” into adoption so much as that they really had no other option. When the single mother allowance came in the mid seventies it began the change towards at least giving some recognition and support.

Yes…there were exceptions, especially if the girl’s family went out on a limb and just held up their heads and offered no apologies.

The gardai must have something else as well though, if they’re sending files to the DPP and so on, somebody must have talked who had an idea what happened. Proving parentage isn’t much to go on and certainly won’t stand up in court. They can’t arrest people without something to go on, they could simply inform them of findings and interview them if they wanted to. The arrest alone affects a lot of people.