Tuam babies burial site ‘truly appalling’ – Taoiseach

Áine Ryan

AS the country reels from the revelations made last Friday by the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said yesterday (Monday) that the discovery was ‘truly appalling’ and that the babies of these single mothers had been treated like ‘some kind of sub-species’. A total of 196 of the 796 babies who died in Tuam’s Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home between 1925 and 1961 were from Co Mayo, it has been confirmed.
Noting that this tragedy had happened in ‘our own time’ and not at ‘the dawn of history’, he commended the work of Tuam historian, Catherine Corless, who had ensured this was brought to light.    
Referring to the role of the coroner and other experts, Mr Kenny observed: “The big question is, what do you do to attempt to identify the remains of a substantial number of babies between three weeks and three years which have come to light in this case ... and are there others in other locations who were treated in the same fashion?”
Meanwhile, the Archbishop of Tuam, Dr Michael Neary told parishioners at Sunday Mass that he was ‘horrified and saddened’ about the number of children buried at the site and now prioritised their ‘dignified reinterment’ in consecrated grounds.   
“Regardless of the time lapse involved, this is a matter of great public concern. I welcome the fact that the commission has already asked that the relevant State authorities take responsibility for the appropriate treatment of the remains, and that the coroner has been informed,” Archbishop Neary said.
He noted that these ‘young, vulnerable women’ had experienced ‘great suffering and pain’ in the circumstances of  ‘giving up their babies for adoption or by witnessing their death’, possibly already compounded by rejection by their families.
Unsurprisingly, local historian, Catherine Corless expressed how she felt ‘emotional, relieved and shocked’ by the commission’s findings.
“I didn’t expect the commission to be as explicit as they were. It was a real vindication but it was more or less what I had always said to them,” Ms Corless said. She added that she would continue to campaign for the remains of the children to be exhumed and reburied properly.
In a statement last Friday the commission confirmed it had carried out test excavations in recent months and in a second sewage type structure had discovered human remains in 17 of 20 chambers.