Liam Neeson has said that more needs to be done to hold the Irish government to account over the history of mother and baby homes.
It comes as his new movie on the life of Irish historian Catherine Corless is set to hit screens this month.
Ms Corless is widely regarded as one of Ireland’s leading researchers on the period of history where women and their children born out of marriage were abused and killed in settings often run by the Catholic Church.
Catherine Corless was responsible for unearthing the secrets of the St Mary’s mother and baby home in Tuam, Co Galway.
What started as a community history project turned into an unearthing of a national scandal that rocked the Irish state, with Ms Corless still searching for answers.
Appearing on the show alongside Ballymena-born Neeson, she said: “To highlight a film on Tuam and the need for excavation was huge. Especially because this was at a time when the government did a test excavation, but there was not much movement afterwards.
“We were pushing for more and the government were stalling so it was huge for us that a movie was being made.”
Children were dying at a rate of about one per fortnight. The movie tells the story of Ms Corless’s research and stars Monica Dolan as her.
She added: “As time went on and with more research I realised this was so dark. I kept digging into it and got all of my evidence before I went public.
“I’m glad I did that because there were a lot of people and actors who said I was making this up or that I wanted attention - but I had the evidence to show that this is what happened.
“Those remains are under a driveway, and it is so sad to think that traffic was happening over those poor babies leaving them to be forgotten about.
Ms Corless made similar calls for an excavation and full government inquiry to happen into Bessborough in Co Cork which has been at the centre of controversial redevelopment plans.
Neeson (74) argued that “women were treated as second class citizens at best and if you got pregnant out of marriage you were even worse than that.
“There has to be closure on that trauma. The state needs to be held accountable for this and to look at themselves and us as citizens and bring this to light.
“I am very proud of this - it is a wonderful piece of work. I hate saying great performance, but it is. This is a very special movie about an ordinary and extraordinary woman.”
The Lost Children of Tuam will be in cinemas on September 25 starring Monica Dolan as Ms Corless and is produced by Neeson.