During Pope Francis's August visit to Ireland the so-called "Tuam babies" became an emblematic issue among protestors (AFP Photo/Paul FAITH) |
Dublin
(AFP) - Ireland's government on Tuesday approved the full excavation of a mass
grave of infant and children's remains on the site of a former Catholic home
for unmarried mothers.
Significant
quantities of baby remains were discovered in an apparent makeshift crypt in
the town of Tuam in western Ireland during test excavations between 2016 and
2017.
"I am
committed to ensuring that all the children interred at this site can have a
dignified and respectful burial," children's minister Katherine Zappone
said in a statement.
"It is
only by taking the right actions now can we truly demonstrate our compassion
and commitment to work towards justice, truth and healing for what happened in
our past and, most especially, for those who were previously abandoned."
During Pope
Francis's August visit to Ireland the so-called "Tuam babies" became
an emblematic issue among protestors, representing historic abuses by the
church in Ireland.
Many
demonstrators carried infant shoes at events during the Pope's weekend-long
visit in a bid to evoke the grave and a silent vigil was held in the town.
In addition
to uncovering and re-interring child remains, the investigation will attempt to
identify those buried at the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home and make
provisions for their memorialisation and conservation of the site.
Initial
investigations will focus on remains found in at least 17 of the 20 chambers
examined so far.
Eight
separate areas warranting further investigation have also been identified, the
government said in a statement.
"It
has taken us more time than first anticipated to examine the unprecedented
technical and legal issues which arise in seeking to appropriately respond to
the tragic discovery," Zappone added in her statement.
The
government-sanctioned commission was set up following research by a local
historian, Catherine Corless, who found that 796 babies and children died at
the home between 1925 and 1961 but there were no burial records for them.
She has
always maintained they had been buried at the site.
Contested
reports that infant remains were discovered in sewage chambers have also
heightened outrage around the discovery.
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