The Government’s mother- and-baby home commission of inquiry must ensure that families of victims are involved in all aspects of its work, a leading human rights lawyer has said.
If serious human rights violations are found to have occurred, the investigation must also be capable of “leading to the identification and punishment of those responsible”, said Prof Michael O’Flaherty, head of NUI Galway’s Irish Centre for Human Rights.
The European Court of Human Rights had established this as a key principle in such inquiries, he said.
Prof O'Flaherty was addressing a public seminar in NUIG last night, at which local historian Catherine Corless outlined new research that showed the burial site used by the former Bon Secours home in Tuam, Co Galway, is far more extensive than recently reported.
Aware of site
Evidence from a trawl of Galway County Council archives by Ms Corless, which she has presented to Minister for Children James Reilly, also confirms that the local authority was well aware of the burial ground back in 1979, when a new playground was being planned.
The playground was proposed for children living in local authority housing on the Dublin road, built on the site of the mother and baby home. The home, formerly a workhouse, had been located on local authority land and had been run for the health board by the Bon Secours order until it was closed in 1961. It was demolished 11 years later.
Minutes of a local authority meeting on December 11th, 1979, at which plans for the playground were discussed, refer to a “children’s burial ground and another burial ground adjoining”, and the need for “due respect for the sensitive nature of the area”.
Prof O’Flaherty said that Ms Corless’s research had raised “very troubling, unanswered questions”.
“Nearly 800 babies are known to have died during the period of the life of this home – between 1925 and 1961 – but we need an investigation before we can establish if there were abuses of human rights,” he said.
The terms of reference for the Government’s commission of inquiry, chaired by Ms Justice Yvonne Murphy, are due to be published shortly. They must comply “at the very least” with the Jordan principles on establishing breaches of human rights, he said.
The principles, named after a Northern Irish legal case (Jordan v the United Kingdom), have been cited by the European Court of Human Rights as essential elements of such an investigation, he explained.
Compensation
If there were human rights abuses, the inquiry must allow for redress, which would include compensation and rehabilitation, he said. Rehabilitation would involve a fitting memorial, as proposed by Ms Corless and her committee.
Ms Corless and the committee have raised nearly €36,000 for a memorial garden and plaque for the 796 infants and children recorded as having died in the Tuam home. They’ve put these plans on hold pending any more extensive investigation of the site.
A spokesman for Dr Reilly said that the recent meeting with Ms Corless had been “very informative” and was one of a series being held as terms of reference are finalised. The terms were close to completion.
Legislation would allow for witnesses to be compelled to attend, he confirmed.
The NUIG seminar was chaired by Irish Council for Civil Liberties director Mark Kelly. It was also addressed by solicitor Kevin Higgins and Tanya Ward of the Children's Rights Alliance.
