Vol. 492 No. 2
136 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will give permission to the National Graves' Association of Ireland to arrange for the reburial of ten people whose remains lie in the prison yard of Mountjoy Prison, Dublin 7. [13821/98]
In February 1994 the Minister for the Environment passed to the Minister for Justice an application from the National Graves Association for the removal of the remains of all ten persons buried in Mountjoy for reinterment in the republican plot in Glasnevin Cemetery. This request was considered by the then Minister who agreed to the proposal subject to the agreement of all of the next of kin. When it emerged that one of the families had not consented and were not prepared to consent to disturbing the plot, the Minister felt that she had no option but to withdraw her consent.
The remains of the volunteer whose family withheld their consent were interred in the same location as five others on the same day in March 1921 and the precise location of the various remains within the plot is uncertain. In these circumstances it is clear that no exhumation of the remains could be attempted without risking an infringement of the stated wishes of one of the families concerned and, while I have no objection in principle to the proposed exhumation, I cannot agree at this time.
