Pressure mounts for inquiry into mass baby graves

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said he wants to know if there are more mass baby graves at mother-and-baby homes across the country.

His comments come as pressure mounts on the Government to launch an immediate independent inquiry into deaths and illegal adoptions at all of the country’s mother-and-baby homes.

Mr Kenny said the State had been aware of the issue since 1972 and there were Dáil records relating to inspections dating back to the 1930s.

Children’s Minister Charlie Flanagan has said the inter-departmental review of the mother-and-baby home scandal will not be restricted to Tuam and includes officials in departments of children, justice, health, education, and environment.

However, Susan Lohan of the Adoption Rights Alliance, which has campaigned on the issue for more than a decade, said nothing short of a full independent inquiry would be sufficient.

“It’s simply not going to cut the mustard,” said Ms Lohan. “We must have a full, independent inquiry into all mother-and-baby homes and private nursing homes to uncover the scale of child deaths and illegal adoptions they arranged. Simply having departments who knew about these issues investigate themselves is not good enough.”

The Bethany Home Survivors group also supported the call for a full inquiry and demanded redress and compensation for survivors of all mother-and-baby homes.

Mother-and-baby homes were excluded from the Redress Scheme in 2005.

Meanwhile, the Sacred Heart Sisters order said it would be happy to take part in such an investigation to establish the truth about a “very sad chapter in the history of Irish society”. The statement comes after the Irish Examiner revealed that death rates at homes it operated in Bessborough in Cork, Sean Ross Abbey in Tipperary, and Castlepollard in Westmeath ranged between 30% and 50% between 1930 and 1945.

The order said it did not have death certs for all children, as all deaths were properly notified to the authorities at the time.

“There was no right to a death certificate bestowed on the congregation,” said a statement.

In a statement, the Sisters of Bon Secours yesterday said they were “deeply saddened” by revelations about a mass grave at St Mary’s Mother and Baby Home, which they operated in Tuam, Co Galway, from 1925 to 1961.

The Bon Secours Sisters say they are committed to engaging with local historian Catherine Corless, the Graveyard Committee and the local residents on the memorial initiative and welcomed the Government’s planned interdepartmental inquiry.

Earlier yesterday, leading forensic scientist Geoff Knuper, who works in Ireland and Britain as well as on cases of the Disappeared, told RTÉ the children’s cause of death could be determined despite it being four decades later.

“In addition to providing opportunities for DNA identification, the skeletal structures could show evidence of physical violence, of disease, even malnutrition,” said Mr Knuper.