Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 October 2022
102. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the contact he has had with an organisation (details supplied) in relation to re-internment of the Invincibles; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48275/22]
View answerI am aware of the campaign led by the National Graves Association to exhume and reinter the five people known as the Invincibles in Glasnevin Cemetery as, over the last two years, my office has received a number of representations from various Local Authorities and indeed from the National Graves Association themselves.
Requests such as this are of a very sensitive and delicate nature and there are a number of matters to consider, both in terms of the significant practicalities and the ethical issues involved.
While the general area of the site of the graves in Kilmainham is relatively well known, there is no detailed plan showing definitively exactly where individuals were interred. It is likely that the remains of other executed prisoners may be located with those of the Invincibles at or near their burial site.
Even were it to be precisely located, there would be practical issues involved in positively identifying the individual remains. It is understood from contemporaneous accounts that after execution, the remains were buried in quicklime and this would render an exhumation and positive identification very difficult, if not impossible.
Kilmainham Gaol is a National Monument and an iconic and much respected site in the context of the national independence struggle in particular. The fact that it is also a grave location adds a significant resonance to its penal and historical significance and there is a strong opposing view to the current campaign that believes that the grave should not be disturbed and the remains should be left within the confines of the Monument.
Finally, the Office of Public Works would clearly understand that any move to undertake an exhumation and re-interral project would certainly not be undertaken unilaterally and would have to be considered and approved in the first instance as a policy matter, which is outside our remit. OPW will, of course, work with all relevant Government Agencies to reach a conclusion to this matter.
