ODAIT will analyse sources (while at all times respecting GDPR and our privacy policy) to:
- Understand the history of the Tuam Mother and Baby Institution as background to the work of ODAIT.
- Understand the Tuam site and context in order to inform the excavation and the intervention.
- Assist in the identification of relatives of those believed to be buried at the Tuam site and those permitted to give a DNA sample (eligible family members).
- Contribute to the identification of human remains.
- Understand circumstances and cause of deaths and any other information about remains recovered.
- Help to individualise human remains.
- Answer questions that will come up as we go through this process.
From the outset it is extremely difficult to predict how quickly the recovery and DNA programme can progress. As the excavation proceeds, we will learn more about the complexity of the different parts of the site and the volume of remains on the site.
Sections 27 to 33 of the Institutional Burials Act 2022 give the Director the right to access information and documents for the performance of his/her functions under the Act, subject to certain conditions.
ODAIT will also engage with family members, people who are familiar with the events in question as well as any witnesses.
Update: Following a tender process, ODAIT appointed researchers in January 2024. The work of these researchers is ongoing.
“Search and identification is a dynamic process. It should not be thought of as one-directional or as a linear sequence of phases, but rather as a process in which information is constantly analysed and cross-checked, and in which consideration is given to the outcome at each step. This then feeds back into ongoing activities, helping to establish what additional actions may be required.” The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) handbook THE FORENSIC HUMAN IDENTIFICATION PROCESS: AN INTEGRATED APPROACH
