Sean Ross Abbey work ‘need not wait’

WORK to determine whether there are mass graves at former mother and baby homes should not have to wait until the excavation at Tuam is complete, according to campaigners.

Survivors of the former Sean Ross Abbey home in Roscrea,

Co. Tipperary met with contractors this week to get prices for scanning a plot of land they believe contains the graves of ‘un-coffined’ children.

It comes after Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman promised that cash would be provided to fund the work.

And Tipperary Sinn Féin

TD Martin Browne this weekend urged the minister to expedite the funding and the analysis of other sites around the country.

‘We are hoping that the new Institutional Burials Bill read in the Dáil this week will allow work to take place on sites simultaneously,’ Mr Browne said.

‘That’s very important for survivors and I don’t see why this can’t happen. It’s not much the survivors are asking for.’ Following a meeting with Tipperary County Council, the head of the Sean Ross

survivors’ group, Teresa

Collins, has met with two firms that are now finalising quotes for the work.

Unlike Tuam, there is a designated burial plot on the grounds of Sean Ross Abbey. However, survivors believe an area surrounding the ‘Angels Plot’ is also a mass grave. Over a 37-year period, 1,090 children died in Sean Ross Abbey. The new owner of the site, Tony Donlan, has consented to the scanning.

The survivors have also announced a memorial day to be held at the former home. President Michael D Higgins has been asked to attend.