Did autonomy given to the Catholic Church by unionist government allow Mother and Baby home scandal to go unreported in NI?

The shocking thing about the latest disclosure of atrocities by the Catholic Church in Ireland is that it is not disclosure at all. Everybody knew. The figure of 9,000 dead babies is clarification of the scale of neglect in the Mother and Baby homes in the Republic and that warrants some dwelling on. This is double the average mortality rate for babies that did not have two parents in that period.