Health study links to Windscale fire

August 1996

THE possible link between the birth of Down’s Syndrome babies in Louth and the 1957 fire at the British nuclear plant at Sellafield, formerly known as Windscale, was re-investigated by a major study that was announced in August, 1996.

The news came with claims by friends of Dr. Patricia Sheehan who carried out the original ground breaking research into the links that she had received death threats to ‘ back off” her research.

Dr. Sheehan died in a car crash outside of Athlone in 1993 with her work unfinished. She had published two studies on schools in Louth which showed that some of the schoolgirls of 1957 had Downn’s Syndrome babies.

The new study was due to be carried out by Dublin based epidemiologist, Dr. Geoffrey Deane and was expected to take a year to complete.

Dr. Sheehan confined her original study to women who were between the ages of 12 and 18 in 1957 and were attending St. Louis Secondary school in Dundalk. She identified eight Down’s Syndrome births among the group.

By the time of her death, Dr. Sheehan had identified eight additional Down’s Syndrome babies born to women who were attending St. Vincent’s in 1957.

It was the opinion of Dr. Sheehan that Sellafield leaked regularly during the 1950’s and she was believed to be in possession of a secret report that quantified the extent of the leaks.

For three days after the fire, Dundalk experienced that heaviest rainfall recorded in Louth during the 1950’s and many local GP’s believed that some of the rain which fell on the town contained radiation which made its way into the milk supplies, subsequently causing the birth abnormalities.

The new study was welcomed by local doctors and politicians who hoped that it would determine once and for all if the leaks from Sellafield were responsible for the birth abnormalities