"I know you were on my side during the tribunal so I am asking you not to go ahead with this film, " Hayes wrote in a recent letter to the journalist.

However, McCafferty's reply argues that putting the spotlight back on the 1983 case is a good thing. "I was on your side then and I am now, " McCafferty states in a letter sent last week to the Co Kerry woman.

In the letter, McCafferty said, "You entered the history books with that inquiry.

As long as the history of Ireland is told, your name will be mentioned. It was partly because of public revulsion at what was done to your family that this country changed for the better."

McCafferty covered the story extensively for the Irish Press newspaper before writing her book. She sold the film rights to the book several years ago. "I think that it is wonderful that this aspect of Irish history should be brought up again, " she said this weekend. "The whole thing brought shame on the Irish government, the Catholic church, the Gardai, doctors, and lawyers because of their conduct. It was a great turning point in Irish life because the public revulsion was very clear."