Works begin in Ireland to exhume remains of hundreds of babies found at unwed mothers' home
FILE - Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin talks to the media outside the government building in Dublin, Jan. 22, 2025.(AP Photo/Peter Morrison, File)
By SYLVIA HUI
Officials in Ireland began work Monday to excavate the site of a former church-run home for unmarried women and their babies to identify the remains of around 800 infants and young children who died there.
The long-awaited excavation at the former Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway in western Ireland, is part of a reckoning in an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country with a history of abuses in church-run institutions.
The home, which was run by an order of Catholic nuns and closed in 1961, was one of many such institutions that housed tens of thousands of orphans and unmarried pregnant women who were forced to give up their children throughout much of the 20th century.
In 2014, historian Catherine Corless tracked down death certificates for nearly 800 children who died at the home in Tuam between the 1920s and 1961 — but could only find a burial record for one child.
Investigators later found a mass grave containing the remains of babies and young children in an underground sewage structure on the grounds of the home. DNA analysis found that the ages of the dead ranged from 35 weeks gestation to 3 years.
A major inquiry into the mother-and-baby homes found that in total, about 9,000 children died in 18 different mother-and-baby homes, with major causes including respiratory infections and gastroenteritis, otherwise known as the stomach flu.
The sisters who ran the Tuam home had offered a 'profound apology' and acknowledged that they had failed to 'protect the inherent dignity' of women and children housed there.
'It's a very, very difficult, harrowing story and situation. We have to wait to see what unfolds now as a result of the excavation," Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said Monday.
Daniel MacSweeney, who leads the exhumation of the babies' remains at Tuam, said that survivors and family members will have an opportunity to view the works in coming weeks.
'This is a unique and incredibly complex excavation," he said in a statement, adding that the memorial garden at the site will be under forensic control and closed to the public from Monday.
Forensic experts will analyze and preserve remains recovered from the site. Any identified remains will be returned to family members in accordance with their wishes, and unidentified remains will be buried with dignity and respect, officials said.
The works are expected to take two years to complete.
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Today
18 hours ago
- Japan Today
Works begin in Ireland to exhume remains of hundreds of babies found at unwed mothers' home
FILE - Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin talks to the media outside the government building in Dublin, Jan. 22, 2025.(AP Photo/Peter Morrison, File) By SYLVIA HUI Officials in Ireland began work Monday to excavate the site of a former church-run home for unmarried women and their babies to identify the remains of around 800 infants and young children who died there. The long-awaited excavation at the former Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway in western Ireland, is part of a reckoning in an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country with a history of abuses in church-run institutions. The home, which was run by an order of Catholic nuns and closed in 1961, was one of many such institutions that housed tens of thousands of orphans and unmarried pregnant women who were forced to give up their children throughout much of the 20th century. In 2014, historian Catherine Corless tracked down death certificates for nearly 800 children who died at the home in Tuam between the 1920s and 1961 — but could only find a burial record for one child. Investigators later found a mass grave containing the remains of babies and young children in an underground sewage structure on the grounds of the home. DNA analysis found that the ages of the dead ranged from 35 weeks gestation to 3 years. A major inquiry into the mother-and-baby homes found that in total, about 9,000 children died in 18 different mother-and-baby homes, with major causes including respiratory infections and gastroenteritis, otherwise known as the stomach flu. The sisters who ran the Tuam home had offered a 'profound apology' and acknowledged that they had failed to 'protect the inherent dignity' of women and children housed there. 'It's a very, very difficult, harrowing story and situation. We have to wait to see what unfolds now as a result of the excavation," Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said Monday. Daniel MacSweeney, who leads the exhumation of the babies' remains at Tuam, said that survivors and family members will have an opportunity to view the works in coming weeks. 'This is a unique and incredibly complex excavation," he said in a statement, adding that the memorial garden at the site will be under forensic control and closed to the public from Monday. Forensic experts will analyze and preserve remains recovered from the site. Any identified remains will be returned to family members in accordance with their wishes, and unidentified remains will be buried with dignity and respect, officials said. The works are expected to take two years to complete. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Japan Today
27-05-2025
- Japan Today
Gunmen kill police officer assigned to protect polio workers in southwestern Pakistan
This is a locator map for Pakistan with its capital, Islamabad, and the Kashmir region. (AP Photo) Gunmen shot and killed a police officer assigned to protect polio workers in southwestern Pakistan on Tuesday before fleeing the scene, police and officials said. The attack occurred in Noshki, a district in Balochistan province, local police official Mohammad Hassan said, adding that the polio workers escaped unharmed in the attack. The female health workers were administering oral polio vaccine drops to children inside a house when the assailants opened fire on the officer, Abdul Waheed, who died on the way to the hospital, Hassan said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the assault, but suspicion is likely to fall on separatist groups and Pakistani Taliban that have stepped up attacks on security forces and civilians in recent months. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi in separate statements denounced the assault and vowed stern action against those behind the attack, which came a day after Pakistan launched the nationwide campaign to vaccinate 45 million children from polio. Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only two countries where the spread of the wild polio virus hasn't been stopped, according to the World Health Organization. There are ongoing outbreaks of polio linked to the oral vaccine in 10 other countries, mostly in Africa. Since January, Pakistan has reported 10 polio cases from various parts of the country despite the launch of immunization drives. Last year, the South Asian country witnessed a surge in polio cases, which jumped to 74, though it reported only one polio case in 2021. Since the 1990s, more than 200 polio workers and the police assigned to protect them have been killed in attacks. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Japan Today
13-05-2025
- Japan Today
Netanyahu says there is 'no way' Israel halts war in Gaza until Hamas is defeated
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli army airstrike on the European hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. The Israeli military said it had carried out a strike targeting what it said was a Hamas "command and control center" located beneath the hospital. (AP Photo/Mariam Dagga) By MELANIE LIDMAN and ELENA BECATOROS Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says there is 'no way' Israel will halt its war in Gaza — where two hospitals were struck Tuesday, killing at least eight people — even if a deal is reached to release more hostages. Netanyahu's comments are likely to complicate talks on a new ceasefire that had seemed to gain momentum after Hamas released the last living American hostage on Monday in a gesture to U.S. President Donald Trump, who is visiting the region but skipping Israel. They pointed to a potentially widening rift between Netanyahu and Trump, who had expressed hope that Monday's release of Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander would be a step toward ending the 19-month war. The Israeli military said Tuesday it struck what it said was a Hamas 'command and control center' located beneath a hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. The strike on the European hospital was the day's second strike on a hospital in the city, killing six and wounding 40, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The dead were taken to Nasser hospital, which Israel struck earlier in the day, saying militants were operating inside it, without identifying them. Two people, including a journalist who was targeted in an earlier strike, were killed in that strike. In comments released by Netanyahu's office Tuesday from a visit to wounded soldiers the previous day, the prime minister said Israeli forces were just days away from a promised escalation of force and would enter Gaza 'with great strength to complete the mission. ... It means destroying Hamas.' Any ceasefire deal reached would be temporary, the prime minister said. If Hamas were to say they would release more hostages, 'we'll take them, and then we'll go in. But there will be no way we will stop the war,' Netanyahu said. 'We can make a ceasefire for a certain period of time, but we're going to the end.' Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in return for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The dispute over whether to end the conflict has been the main obstacle in negotiations going back more than a year. Israel says 58 hostages remain in captivity, with as many as 23 of them said to be alive, although authorities have expressed concern about the condition of three of them. Many of the 250 hostages taken by Hamas-led militants in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack that started the war were freed in ceasefire deals. Monday's release of 21-year-old Alexander resulted from negotiations between Hamas and the Trump administration that appeared to have largely bypassed Israel, which made no concessions for his release. Alexander, who was 19 when he was taken from an Israeli army base during the 2023 attack, was the first hostage released since Israel shattered an eight-week ceasefire with Hamas in March and unleashed fierce strikes on Gaza that have killed hundreds of Palestinians. Israel has promised to intensify its offensive, including by seizing Gaza and displacing much of the territory's population again. Days before the ceasefire ended in March, Israel blocked all imports from entering the Palestinian enclave, deepening a humanitarian crisis and sparking warnings about the risk of famine. Israel says the steps are meant to pressure Hamas to accept a ceasefire agreement on Israel's terms. The World Health Organization said Tuesday that according to Gaza's Health Ministry, 57 children had died from the effects of malnutrition since the blockade began on March 2. Alexander's release created a backlash against Netanyahu, who critics accuse of putting the lives of the hostages in danger by continuing the war. Netanyahu says he is committed to returning all the hostages, destroying Hamas and resettling much of Gaza's population through what he refers to as 'voluntary emigration.' During a nearly two-hour meeting in Tel Aviv with the families of hostages on Tuesday, the United States' special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and Adam Boehler, the Trump administration's envoy for hostage affairs, said they would do what was needed to bring the remaining hostages home. Witkoff said everyone would prefer a diplomatic solution and that most hostages had been released through diplomacy. The officials headed to Doha, Qatar, after their meeting to join Trump. Qatar has been a key mediator between Israel and Hamas. Witkoff said they wouldn't be traveling to Qatar if they didn't think there was a genuine chance for progress in negotiations. Alexander's parents said in a statement on Tuesday that their son described enduring a harsh captivity that included hunger, lack of water, and 'appalling sanitary conditions.' His mother, Yael, said he feared for his life every day, 'but the most terrible sound that Edan feared was the sound of the war going on above their heads. Deafening explosions, the whistles of missiles, the sounds of collapse, collapse, and the earth shaking.' Alexander's parents called on Netanyahu to listen to 'the vast majority of the Israeli public' and prioritize the return of the remaining hostage. They thanked Trump and his envoys for 'their tireless efforts on Edan's behalf.' Netanyahu has voiced support for a plan proposed by Trump for Palestinians to be moved out of the Gaza Strip after the war - a proposal that has infuriated Palestinians and Arab nations. 'We have put together an administration that will allow them to leave, but the problem with us is one thing — we need receptive countries,' Netanyahu said during his visit to the wounded soldiers Monday. 'That's what we're working on right now. If you give them the go-ahead, I tell you that more than 50% will leave, and I think much more.' Israel and the US have been seeking countries willing to take Palestinians who would potentially move out of the territory. Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people in the 2023 attack. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 52,800 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants or civilians. Israel's offensive has obliterated vast swaths of Gaza's urban landscape and displaced 90% of the population, often multiple times. AP reporters Ibrahim Hazboun in Jerusalem, Wafaa Shurafa in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Samy Magdy in Cairo and Natalie Melzer in Tel Aviv contributed. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
