Gardaí may investigate if Tuam baby exhumation reveals evidence of unlawful deaths
The long-awaited exhumation at the site of the former Bons Secours-run mother and baby home will begin on June 16.
Hoarding will be erected around the entire site, situated in the middle of the Dublin Road housing estate, and it will be closed to the public from Monday. The actual dig will start on July 14.
The Director of the Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention (ODAIT), who is overseeing the excavation, told the Irish Examiner that if any of the children died unnaturally, or if any remains found do not belong to children who lived at the home, Gardaí will be notified.
Cork native Daniel MacSweeney said 'From Monday the area will be under forensic control, we basically have to treat it like a garda investigation.
'If we find evidence that a child died violently, we will be able to call the gardaí through the coroner Val Costello.
'We also have forensic archaeologists and anthropologists like Dr Niamh McCullough on site so they will know if there is an unnatural death.
'Dr Niamh McCullough works with the gardaí all the time and she will be able to say 'Yes that looks violent' and we will notify the coroner who then notifies the gardaí.'
The country's first mass exhumation of a children's burial site follows a long-running campaign by families of the children and local historian Catherine Corless.
In 2014, Ms Corless's research uncovered the names of the 796 children who died at the home between 1925 and 1961.
The remains found during the exhumation will be stored on-site in specially designed, humidity- and temperature-controlled areas.
The HSE is due to provide a larger storage facility to the team next year if required.
'We have a storage area on-site and a commitment from the HSE to provide a storage area in January or February,' said Mr MacSweeney.
'We have also a temporary off-site in Headford, if we don't find very much in the first few months, we do have an onsite place."
Daniel Mac Sweeney, appointed by the Government as the Director of Authorised Intervention, will head up the independent office overseeing the excavation and recovery of children's remains at the site of the former Mother and Baby Institution in Tuam. Photo: Ray Ryan
The Director explained that the exhumation will take place across five designated areas.
'We have to open the ground with a digger and take the soil off in very small layers and that is done with an archaeologist beside the construction team.
'So as soon as they see something of interest, they will begin the recovery, and they have to do that for the entire site".
The forensic team will remain on-site for at least 24 months. The dig will start at the playground and finish at the area known as the children's grave, or the green area.
'We don't want to track any vehicles across the site because there could be remains anywhere on that site and if we go to the memorial garden first, we run the risk of damaging any remains that are somewhere else.
'If there is only one area that has remains – and that is the memorial garden it could be quicker than we anticipated.'
Any remains recovered will have to be dated, he explained, because 'there could be famine-related remains.'
'We will have to deal with the national museum the coroner and the gardaí we have a scenario and plan for all.'
DNA is currently being collected to help identify the children and match them with living relatives.
So far, 50 people with a connection to the site — including some from America and Canada — have come forward.
To date, 15 people have provided DNA samples, but more are expected once the exhumation begins and a wider campaign is launched.
Mr MacSweeney confirmed that only one mother who was incarcerated in the Tuam home has so far provided DNA.
The site measures between 4,500 and 5,000 square metres, and each area must be forensically examined.
'We have to be extremely careful and sensitive to maximise the chances of recovering the remains'.
Families of the children are expected to visit the site with the Director of Intervention on July 8, with media permitted to attend two days later.
'Nobody will have access to the site during the exhumation,' said Mr MacSweeney.
'What is unique about this is it's a mass grave with infants and it's the age of the children that is different' he explained.
'They are so young and then there is the co-mingling, they are no longer in some cases, individuals, so it is hugely complex.
'We should be able to tell if a deceased child's entire body was placed in a grave and then if the body decomposed in situ versus the bones being moved. We should be able to know how they ended up in the tank when this is finished with the scientific results."
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