In 2020, the Irish State formally apologised after 36 years to Joanne Hayes for wrongly accusing her of the murder and for the "appalling hurt and distress caused".
Initially, the Gardai conducted a half-hearted search and declared that no body had been found and that the family’s confessions were the true account of what had happened.
Judge Lynch found that Joanne Hayes killed the baby on the farm by choking it to stop it crying, despite state pathologist Dr John Harbison's inability to determine the cause of death.
"[11] The case was also noteworthy for having a psychiatrist admit under oath that the definition of sociopath he had used to describe Joanne Hayes in his testimony would apply to "about half the population of the country".
[16] A Garda review of the DNA evidence announced on 16 January 2018, confirmed that Joanne Hayes was not the mother of the infant found at White Strand.
[7] Irish national media reported that Acting Garda Commissioner Dónall Ó Cualáin offered a full verbal and written apology to Joanne Hayes.
On the morning of 14 September 2021, the remains of Baby John were exhumed by Gardaí at Holy Cross Cemetery, Caherciveen, County Kerry.
[24] On 23 March 2023, Gardaí announced that a man in his 60s and a woman in her 50s had been arrested on suspicion of murder in Munster and were being held at Garda stations in relation to the case.
[27] A 2019 scholarly article suggests that unfamiliarity with the poorly-documented "killeen" (or "Cillín") custom (the burial of stillborn babies in unconsecrated ground, which was once prevalent in Kerry) may have been a factor in the case.