Gardaí do not expect to bring charges against the young mother of a newborn baby found dead in Granard, Co Longford, early on Thursday.
The mother, thought to be in her early 20s, was still receiving treatment at the Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar last night.
She had been taken to the hospital in some distress on Wednesday night and, after gardaí were contacted, the baby's body was discovered in a wheelie bin.
Granard found itself at the centre of controversy more than 21 years ago when Ann Lovett (15) died after she gave birth to a baby in a grotto.
Yesterday Fr Frank Kelly, parish priest at St Mary's Church, said parishioners were very upset at the news of the latest tragedy. He was contacted by gardaí after the body was found and he blessed the baby before it was removed for postmortem.
Fr Kelly said the mother was receiving very good medical care and was making good progress.
"People are naturally very sad," he said. "Both families are very well known. They are very highly regarded and are very nice people."
It is understood that the young parents of the baby were living together in a local housing estate and had another child.
Fr Kelly said it was hoped that the prayers and support from local people would help the families get through this difficult time, "as we have got through other tragedies".
News of the death spread through Granard early on Thursday, after Garda cars were seen at the house. A hearse passed through the town with a small brown coffin before the baby was removed to the hospital in Mullingar for the postmortem.
The results of that examination will not be made public although it is understood that the baby may have been stillborn, or may have died shortly after its birth.
Local people were reluctant to talk to the media yesterday, with several expressing their unhappiness at the way the midlands town had been portrayed since the Ann Lovett tragedy.
"They are still very sore about the Lovett case," said one man who has a holiday home in the area. "It's always there in the background, but people don't talk about it out of respect for her mother. But now it's happened again."
A shopkeeper on the main street, who did not want to be named, said: "It's not that people are being ignorant, it's that nobody wants to be judgmental. People feel an awful sadness for the families involved, two very decent families. There is so much sympathy for them all."
When news of the death emerged, he said, people immediately thought of the unwanted publicity it would bring to the town again. "They were saying last night, 'When will that crowd [ the media] be down again and how soon will it be on the radio?'"
Another woman said people felt "very hurt" that the Ann Lovett case was still being dragged up. "It's an invasion of privacy. I'm not local, but people are very private here. Everyone has a family, and no one knows when it could be their own turn," she said.
Yesterday afternoon the sun was shining on the secluded grotto where Ann Lovett and her baby boy were found 21 years ago. Someone had thrust some wild flowers into the hands of a girl statue kneeling at the feet of Our Lady.
"It's very sad that this should happen again," said local councillor Frank Flood.