Kerry babies: Irish state apologises to Joanne Hayes

The body of 'Baby John' was found on White Strand beach, County Kerry, in 1984

The Garda commissioner (head of the Irish police) and the Irish minister for justice have apologised to a woman at the centre of the infamous Kerry Babies scandal.

Joanne Hayes was wrongly accused of murdering a baby found with multiple stab wounds 36 years ago on White Strand beach near Cahersiveen in County Kerry.

Ms Hayes and her family will now be awarded substantial compensation.

The family was not in court.

They have also received a declaration that all findings of wrong-doing against them by the Kerry Babies tribunal were unfounded and incorrect.

The body of another baby was found at the Hayes family farm

Afterwards, Ms Hayes' solicitor Pat Mann read a statement on her behalf in which he thanked all those who had supported her over the past 36 years.

He said: "It is Joanne's sincere hope and belief that after 36 years the suffering and stress of this ordeal is now finally behind them all.

"Her only request is that their privacy be respected and that they can return to their lives within their local community in peace."

Ms Hayes, who lived 75 km (46 miles) away from White Strand beach, was known to be pregnant before the find but hadn't been seen with a child afterwards.

It later emerged she gave birth to a boy known as Shane who was either stillborn or died shortly after birth and was buried on the family farm.

Joanne Hayes (pictured at the time) and her family initially confessed to the murder

Detectives believed she may have given birth to twins - despite the two babies having different blood groups - and that she had murdered the baby found on the beach now known as Baby John.

At one stage gardaí (Irish police officers) believed the twins' different blood groups could be explained by Ms Hayes having sex with two different men at the same time.

She and her family initially confessed to the murder but later withdrew their confessions, saying detectives had coerced them.

After the murder charges were thrown out the state set up an enquiry known as the Kerry Babies Tribunal into garda behaviour in the case.

The tribunal shocked many in the Republic of Ireland for the manner in which Ms Hayes, a private woman, was publicly asked about her sex life.

Women's groups protested outside and the tribunal is now widely seen as unwanted reminder of a dark past.

In 2018 DNA tests concluded Joanne Hayes could not have given birth to Baby John.

The then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar apologised to her and the Hayes family.

Last year she, her daughter who was then a toddler, and her siblings started High Court proceedings against the Garda commissioner and the Director of Public Prosecutions.

After months of mediation the state is expected to offer her €1.5 million (£1.4m), her three siblings €300,000 (£272,000) each and her daughter €100,000 (£91,000) as compensation.

Neither the parents nor the killer of Baby John have ever been identified.