The authorities were aware of Mary Collins's case. Both the gardai and health services staff tried to get her to take a case against her husband. Out of fear, she did not act.

The couple married when Mary was 18. The first instance of abuse was within weeks of their wedding. In later years Mary Collins said her husband beat her with his fists, a poker and a hammer as well as attacking her while she was pregnant.

By 2002, Mary Collins, then 28 years old, was the mother of five children. She was also a woman crying out for help. She spent six weeks in the psychiatric unit at Mayo General Hospital in the months leading up to the terrible events which finally forced the state to respond to her situation.

The Central Criminal Court heard last week that, on 28 July 2002, Mary Collins pushed her double buggy over the quay wall at Westport with two of her young children strapped inside.

She then jumped into the water with the intention of drowning herself.

Collins and her three-year-old daughter were rescued. Eleven-month-old Liam Collins suffered brain damage from near drowning and died six months later.

The gardai and the health services failed to help Mary Collins with her illness and with her life of abuse. But last week another agency of the state . . . the courts . . . finally intervened in her life.

The mother of five was found guilty but insane of her son's murder. Judge Paul Carney ordered her to be detained at the Central Mental Hospital.

As a society, we need to ask ourselves how the case of Mary Collins got to this point. This woman needed compassion and support. Instead she was allowed to return repeatedly to an environment of known domestic abuse. She was also released from the care of the health services in the knowledge that she would have responsibility for five young children.

It was only after the terrible events of 28 July 2002 . . . and what can only be seen as a cry for help . . . that the authorities responded.

Tanaiste and health minister Mary Harney should now order an independent assessment of this case to determine how the authorities acted and what lessons can be learned. The minister must also heed the repeated calls for greater investment in mental health services, an area short on specialist staff and with inadequate community care facilities.

The fact that Mary Collins was a member of the travelling community must also be put under the spotlight.

The acceptability of 'arranged' marriages must be debated, as must an apparent tolerance of domestic abuse.

The case of Mary Collins is a stark reminder that many serious issues remain in the darkened corners of Irish life. The manner in which we throw some light on these cases will determine . . . just as much as how we spend the gains of our economic progress . . . what direction we take as a civilised society.