Tuam baby case is granted full hearing
Peter Mulryan hopes order paves way for others
A FORMER resident of the Tuam mother and baby home has been granted a full hearing at the High Court regarding records which could contain information about his infant sister.
Peter Mulryan, 73, from Ballinasloe in Co. Galway, whose sister Marian Bridget Mulryan is believed to be one of the 796 children who died in the home, brought a case against Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, in December.
He wants any information that exists on his little sister, who is recorded as having died at Tuam on February 12, 1955, when she was nine months old.
Yesterday, Judge Richard Humphreys said he would grant the order and that he expected Cancer battle: Peter Mulryan the case to be heard in around four or five weeks. Solicitor for Mr Mulryan, Kevin Higgins, who received a round of applause outside the court, told the Irish Daily Mail the result was ‘significant’ for his client, as well as other survivors of the Tuam home and their relatives.
Mr Mulryan, who has cancer, said: ‘There is a little more light at the end of the tunnel; it’s far from over yet but it is a step in the right direction. I hope I open the doors for everyone else. I hope my health improves in the meantime. It is significant and it’s been a battle but I am pleased it’s moving now.’
Mr Higgins added: ‘We are relieved. We’ve been here since December 5, and the judge has granted leave, which means that there will be a full hearing of the issues and essentially the onus now rests, in my view, on Tusla to come into court and explain why they should not release these records they’ve been sitting on to Mr Mulryan – but not just to Mr Mulryan... to every survivor of Tuam.
‘What is at issue here is the unofficial records – essentially the personal data of women, children and their direct interaction with potential adoptive parents. These are deeply personal documents and these have remained unattended, undeclared and hidden for the past six years, and survivors are entitled to have these examined.’
Yesterday, the court heard Mr Mulryan’s legal team had updated their affidavit and asked the court for an order allowing the case to proceed to a full hearing of all the issues
Mr Mulryan also asked for burial records, admission books, a certificate of cause of death referred to on the death certificate of his sister, and archives of photographs, documentation and correspondence relating to children sent for adoption to the US or within Ireland.
He also asked for any correspondence from the home to Mr Mulryan’s mother, or any other person, asking for money for the upkeep of his sister.
‘A little light at the end of tunnel’