Excavations to start at suspected mass baby grave in 2019

The excavation of a site in Co Galway where it is suspected that hundreds of babies are buried is set to begin in the latter stages of 2019.

It comes after significant quantities of human remains were discovered in 2016 at the site of a former mother and baby home in Tuam.

In October, the Irish Government approved the forensic excavation of the site.

Irish premier Leo Varadkar has revealed that he expects the excavation will take place in the latter part of 2019.

“We anticipate that there’ll be excavations in Tuam in the latter half of 2019, because we have to pass legislation in the Oireachtas giving us, the government, the power to do the excavations,” the Taoiseach said.

“Because, for lots of reasons, we don’t have the power to do that.

“So we’ll have to pass that legislation in the New Year, and we’d envisage carrying out the first excavations in the second half of 2019.

“In the meantime though we can start appointing the experts and the ground team who’ll be doing the actual work.”

Mr Varadkar said he does not believe an excavation of this size has been done before in Ireland but emphasised his government believes it is the “right thing to do”.

“We’ve never really done this before in Ireland, on this scale, so we’ve a lot to set up, [and] a lot to learn before we do it,” he said.

“We’re not entirely sure what we’re getting into, but as a government we’re convinced this is the right thing to do, to remove the remains and to give those children a proper decent burial they didn’t get.”

The Tuam mother-and-baby home operated from 1925 to 1961 and was run by the Bon Secours Sisters.

Official records show that 798 infants and children died at the home and it is believed many were buried there.

The story hit the headlines across the world when it emerged that a significant quantity of human remains were found in septic tanks.

There has been a long running campaign to secure an excavation of the site.

Tuam was one of a number of homes for unmarried mothers and their children across Ireland which were run by religious orders.

The Coalition of Mother and Baby Home Survivors estimate that around 35,000 women and girls went through nine mother and baby homes between 1904 and 1996.