Tuam baby plan ‘could take years’
AN eminent archaeologist said an excavation of the Tuam mother and baby home ‘could happen quite quickly’, but tracking down families of the children could take ‘years’.
Professor Sue Black, who has led expert teams in finding remains all over the world, said excavating a children’s mass grave is extremely complicated.
Professor Black was speaking after the Government announcement that an excavation is to be carried out at the site of where the 796 Tuam Babies are believed to be buried in Co. Galway.
Speaking to the Irish Daily Mail, she said: ‘Given the numbers of bodies involved, I think it is reasonable to expect that excavation... of the remains could occur quite quickly, but the tracking down of family for DNA samples [to identify the deceased], would be expected to be very protracted – and therefore to state ‘years’ would be perfectly reasonable.
‘The bones in the ground depend very much on the nature of the soil. If the soil is sandy and dry then preservation might actually be very good but if the soil is wet and acidic then they would be in poorer condition. It is impossible to guess without knowing about the topography of the environment.’
In her announcement on Monday that the children who died in the Bons Secours-run home in Tuam will be exhumed, Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone said new legislation was needed before the project could begin. She also acknowledged the difficulties the expert group will face.
Prof. Black said the Government ‘need to get Tuam right’ in order to set a precedent for the other mother and baby home graves. She said: ‘Children’s remains are very challenging, so the people who are doing the excavations need to have a really good understanding of the skeleton, because sometimes you’re looking at bones that look nothing more like stones in the ground.’
Prof. Black also said the children have a right to an identity under European Law and that the rights of their families must be respected.
Her comments were echoed by Ireland’s Special Rapporteur Dr Geoffrey Shannon, who has called for an audit of the number of death certificates relative to the number of juvenile human remains found at the Tuam site.