The historian who uncovered the mass baby grave in Tuam has urged people to 'ignore' claims by a controversial cleric as he doubled down on his assertion that the media 'exaggerated' the scandal.
Catherine Corless spoke out after Fr Séan Sheehy dismissed the shocking discovery of 800 children's remains in a mass grave in an underground tank at the old Tuam mother and baby home.
In an interview with Radio Kerry this week, the priest said 'a lot of the stuff about the [Magdalene] laundries and the rest of that stuff has been exaggerated by the media'.
He added: 'Like the Tuam babies thing and also the Indian woman [Savita Halappanavar] that was used to legitimise abortion. That was a total lie.'
And last night Fr Sheehy doubled down on his claims that coverage around Mother and Baby Homes and the Tuam babies was 'exaggerated'.
'Of course it was [exaggerated],' he told the Irish Mail on Sunday. 'There was an agenda there. They didn't even bother to really research it as well. That was the problem. They never talked about the fact that the Government did absolutely nothing and threw it all over to the Church.
'And a lot of the stuff about the whole mother and baby thing, they never mentioned about the families who actually provided nothing for people, nor did the Government. That's why I said it's biased. Typical media. The media in this country is disgusting, it's corrupt.
'There's no doubt about it. There's one agenda. It's anti-Church, it's anti-Christian. It roots up all those things again in order to undermine whatever moral authority the Church has. That's why I'm so sick and tired of the media. And I see it even especially this past week.'
However, Ms Corless, whose ground-breaking research was first published nationally in the MoS, said: 'My message would be to ignore him all together ? the best thing to do with these people [who share same views as Fr Sheehy] is to 'how to ignore them all together.
'They are very well rehearsed in how to promote what they believe in. They love controversy and it feeds into their methods.'
Fr Sheehy hit the headlines in the wake of a highly controversial sermon he made in church in Listowel, Co. Kerry, last weekend, in which he condemned same-sex couples, abortion and transgenderism.
He later reiterated on his views in interviews on RTÉ Radio's News at One and Liveline, as well as on Radio Kerry.
The priest claimed politicians - including incoming Taoiseach Leo Varadkar - who support same sex marriage and are openly gay are 'absolutely' going to hell if they don't repent on sin and seek forgiveness'.
Following a public backlash, Fr Sheehy has been removed from the parish rota, with the Bishop of Kerry and other leading priests having been quick to distance the Catholic Church from the priest and his comments.
However, Ms Corless has questioned why Fr Sheehy - whose extreme views would have been well known within the Catholic Church - was allowed to say Mass in the first place.
She told Extra.ie: 'I wonder why Fr Sheehy was allowed to say Mass ? they [Catholic Church) knew well that was his method and that he would be promoting that.
'In reality, the Church is not in favour of divorce, is not in favour of abortion and is not in favour of gay marriage.
'I feel the Church realises they are losing power, they are losing control and people are waking up in Ireland and they are shocked I think,' she said.
'The question is why was he allowed to say Mass knowing where he is coming from.
'They know his history, they know his thoughts and they would know he would be like this.'
Ms Corless has been honoured for her investigative research and painstaking work which revealed the horrors of the children's mass grave at Tuam Mother and Baby Home. The historian spent months trying to find out why there were no marked graves for hundreds of young residents and eventually found them in a septic tank.