Families of 10 men executed and buried in Mountjoy Prison during the War of Independence have signed consent forms to have their remains exhumed. This includes the family of Kevin Barry.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, witnessed the formal signing which allows the remains to be removed. The Prison Service will shortly apply to Dublin Corporation for an exhumation licence and on receipt of that licence State pathologist Dr John Harbison will remove the bodies.
A map given to the prison authorities in 1923 shows where the remains lie. A granite cross erected in 1961 which marks the graves is to be removed.
Most of the remains will be buried at a chosen plot in Glasnevin Cemetery close to the National Graves Association and Republican plots where Harry Boland, Thomas Ashe, Erskine Childers, Countess Markievicz and Oscar Traynor are buried. One of the men, Patrick Maher, will be buried in Ballylanders, Limerick, at his family's request.
The exhumation will take place over the summer and the final ceremony - when the remains will be taken from Mountjoy and reburied - is expected to take place in September or October.
Although some families and the National Graves Association have been campaigning for years to have the remains removed, it was not until last November that the Department of Justice sought permission from the families. This was because some families objected to the graves being disturbed.
One grave contains the remains of six men, including Patrick Moran, whose sister opposed the removal because of possible identification difficulties. The remains of Frank Flood, Thomas Whelan, Thomas Bryan, Patrick Doyle and Bernard Ryan, all executed on March 14th, 1921, share the same grave.
Kevin Barry's remains occupy a single grave since his execution on November 1st, 1920 as does Thomas Traynor, who was executed on April 25th, 1921. Edmond Foley and Patrick Maher, executed on June 7th, 1921, lie in separate graves side by side.
Mr Matt Doyle, secretary of the National Graves Association, said he was pleased the final go-ahead has been given. However, he said he was disappointed many family members who would have liked to have seen the remains removed years before have since died.
There has been no application from the family of Thomas Kent, executed after the 1916 Rising and buried in Cork Prison, to have his remains removed, said a Prison Service spokesman.