Children’s hospital site on mass grave

The long-running national children’s hospital plan risks being delayed yet again, after it emerged the chosen site for the building is on the grounds of an ancient mass paupers’ grave.

Archeologists assessing the St James’s Hospital site confirmed the discovery at the weekend, noting thousands of people may have been buried in the location in the 17th and 18th centuries.

According to the checks, the planned site for the new hospital will be in an area which acted as a paupers’ grave and work house in the 1600s and 1700s.