TUAM (CO GALWAY, IRELAND)
The Irish Times
February 23, 2018
By Elaine Edwards
Historian calls on members of the public to make submissions to Galway County Council
Galway historian Catherine Corless, whose work resulted in the discovery of the remains of hundreds of babies and infants on the site of the former mother-and-baby home in Tuam, has urged members of the public to support full exhumation and DNA testing of the remains.
Galway County Council recently opened the consultation on options for the site following the publication by Minister for Children Katherine Zappone of an expert technical report in December.
In March 2017, the Mother and Baby Home Commission of Investigation confirmed the discovery of juvenile human remains, in “significant quantities”, in subsurface chambers on the site of historic sewage system at the former Bon Secours home.
That commission was set up in February 2015 after Ms Corless published research that revealed death certificates for 796 children at the Tuam home with no indication of their burial places.
In June last year, the minister appointed an expert technical group to outline to the Government what options were available for the site and for dealing with the remains.
While the technical report outlined five options – from creating a memorial to continuing examinations on the site – the Government has not made a decision on how to proceed.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.