The woman at the centre of the search for the remains of a still-born baby in south Dublin today revealed she had been abused from the age of seven.
Solicitors for the woman being referred to as “Niamh” in sections of the press said their client was too “distraught” to speak of her experience as the dig at her former home in Dalkey continued today.
A statement issued by Dublin solicitors O’Brien Dunne asked the media respect her privacy and said a statement would be issued after the results of the Dalkey dig were know.
The solicitors said their client had been abused over a prolonged period and she has been attempting “to obtain justice for many years”.
“Our client was the victim of most serious abuse since she was about seven. This abuse, which continued for many years, was carried out by various people, leading to the birth of two children, Noleen and John, when our client was aged eleven and 15 respectively.
“Noleen was murdered in 1973, and John was buried in the garden in Dalkey, currently the subject of the Garda dig.”
The statement welcomed the announcement last night by the Dún Laoghaire coroner that he would re-open the inquest onto the death of Noleen, which begins in September.
Baby Noleen was found dumped in 1973 in a laneway Dún Laoghaire, near the woman’s home. There were no arrests at the time, but “Niamh” came forward in 1985 claiming she had given birth to the child.
A number of arrests were made and a file was prepared for the DPP, who directed there should be no prosecution.
“Niamh” is understood to have approached gardaí recently after a long period of therapy which she believes helped her recall that she gave birth to a second child which was buried in her back garden
Gardaí are continuing the search of the garden in White’s Villas in an effort to find the remains of baby John believed to have been buried there in the mid-1970s.
As yet the search, which involves officers working through the soil with their hands in an effort to recover any fragments of what experts say would be greatly decomposed remains, has uncovered nothing.
Gardaí stress the current occupants of the house are not part of their inquiry.