Galway Bay fm newsroom - This week's report on the public consultation over the future of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home site is a 'worthless mechanism' to delay and subvert the wishes of survivors.
That's the reaction of the Tuam Home Survivors Network - which says the actions of Minister Katherine Zappone to date have done nothing but distract and obstruct the process.
A public consultation on the future of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home site at Athenry Road ended in March - and the findings were published on Friday.
The consultation, carried out by the County Council on behalf of Minister Katherine Zappone, revealed a polarised opinion on the future of the site.
Former residents of the home, as well as their families, expressed a preference for a full forensic excavation of the site along with DNA analysis.
However, local residents are largely advocating that the remains should not be disturbed and it should become a site of memorial instead.
In a statement to Galway Bay FM News, the Tuam Home Survivors Network now says the so-called consultative process is entirely worthless.
They claim it's just a crudely designed mechanism to delay or prevent what clearly needs to be done.
The group believes the only moral and legal way to deal with the reality of the site is for an inquest to be convened and a full excavation ordered.
It also states that as far as forensic science will allow, efforts should be made to establish the causes of death in the hundreds of children buried there.
The Tuam Home Survivors Network adds that to date, Minister Katherine Zappone has done nothing but distract from - and obstruct - that process.
It adds that Minister Zappone is furthering a myth that she and the Government have power over the future of the site - when it is the Coroner for North Galway Dr. Val Costello who has jurisdiction.
