Council defends retention of Tuam Mother and Baby Home archive

A DECISION not to release archives on the Tuam Mother and Baby Home to relatives of those who lived and died there has been defended by the CEO of Galway County Council.

CEO Kevin Kelly told a Council meeting this week that while all information relating to the Home had been passed to the Commission, there was confusion as to what material was in the council’s possession.
“There is some misunderstanding regarding the records we hold in that there is an expectation of information we simply don’t have,” he said.
Sinn Fein councillor Tom Healy said survivors weren’t happy with the lack of information being given by the council on the material it holds on the site, which it acquired after the Home closed in the 1960s.
“I call on this chamber to sanction a motion that archives be released to the families immediately,” he said.
“It’s the very least these people deserve and if it doesn’t happen we need an explanation why. These people are victims and I cannot see any reason to withhold that information.”

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