The star is working on it with the brave historian and campaigner Catherine Corless

US actor Liam Neeson speaks after receiving an award for his career during the Golden Camera awards ceremony on February 22, 2018 in Hamburg, northern Germany. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / Christian Charisius (Photo credit should read CHRISTIAN CHARISIUS/AFP via Getty Images) (Image: CHRISTIAN CHARISIUS/AFP via Getty Images)

y

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info

Liam Neeson announced plans to release a movie about the Tuam mother and babies home scandal.

The Oscar-winning actor revealed he is working with Catherine Corless to develop the project, which, he said, is only one year away from going into production.

Catherine Corless is the Irish historian and campaigner who helped with the investigations and uncovered the deaths of nearly 800 children that occurred between 1925 and 1961 at the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam.

The 69-year-old actor spoke on The Late Late Show last Friday night and revealed the reasons behind the decision of this movie.

“A friend of mine, Amy Hynes, three years ago she sent this article by Dan Barry a New York Times journalist and said ‘Liam, have you read this?’”

“And then I read this article by Dan about Catherine and the discovery of the babies underground, 796 babies, who are, of course, still there in septic tanks.

He continued: “I read this, and I couldn’t find the words. I’m Irish and I was brought up a Catholic and a very strong Catholic and I was filled with emotion. I was filled with horror, and I was filled with embarrassment.

“For the first time in my life, and I’ve made some 93/94 films, I never felt this way before. I was lying on my bed, I shot up straight and I thought I’m going to do something about this. Whatever celebrity status I have in the film world, I’m going to do something.

“I called my producer friend Jules Daly, she works with Ridley Scott, and I said ‘I’m going to send you this article, I want you to read it, we’re going to produce a film about this, we have to. Don’t ask me where the motivation is coming from, we have to do it’

“She read it and said, ‘yeah, I’m on board.’ We approached Rose Garnett, the Head of BBC Films, we got this extortionary writer,” he added.

Liam Neeson also told the show how he met Catherine Corless three years ago in Galway.

“I visited Catherine and her lovely husband, Aidan, three years ago. I spent a few hours, and I was just struck by the humility by this ordinary and extraordinary woman and her husband.

“She filled me in on this extraordinary story. So, we’re going to do this film, we have a wonderful writer on board, and I told Catherine to be patient with us as the film process can take a long time, for example, Schindler’s List took 10 years to get together until we got a script.

“This Tuam babies film will not take 10 years, it’s three years already but we’re very near completion.”

“Hopefully maybe in a year’s time, we will start production on this to tell the story to the world,