CONCERNS over work at Milltown Cemetery near an area that contains the unmarked graves of children has been raised with a Stormont Minister.
In April, North Belfast MLA Nuala McAllister called for an urgent halt to work in Milltown Cemetery over concerns that unmarked baby graves will be disturbed. Nuala believes her siblings are buried in the cemetery which is home to hundreds of mass graves, most of them infants who were buried there from the 1930s to the 1990s.
Nuala said her mother was previously informed that her stillborn son and the twins she lost during pregnancy could be buried in Milltown Cemetery.
Nuala has now taken her concerns to Stormont, meeting with Communities Minister Gordon Lyons. She was joined by archaeologist Toni Maguire and Siubhainin Ní Chutnneagam, who like Nuala, has family members buried in unmarked graves. As well as meeting the minister, the group have also met with Belfast City Council officials and spoken at a Stormont Committee last week where they raised their concerns.
"We brought all the issues to the attention of the Minister as cemeteries fall under his Department," explained Nuala. "We brought with us photos, testimonies and previous archaeology reports of the site and highlighted our concerns.
"There are claims of 11,000 buried in unmarked graves but the records that we have had access to go far beyond that number. We are very concerned that there will be continuous destruction of the unmarked graves at the cemetery unless something is done to protect it.
"As it is privately owned we brought it to the attention of the Minister. I am glad to say that his team were shocked at the information, photos and records they saw and heard and agree that there must be scope for something to be done. One of the issues we want changed is to ensure that any cemetery such as Milltown is governed by the same regulations as those owned by statutory bodies such as Belfast City Council.
"The Minister has given commitment to examine this issue and if legislation is required then he would be open to that. I am also intending to submit a private member's bill should the minister not be able to act in this mandate that seeks to change the private cemetery status and therefore regulations that govern Milltown."
On Tuesday, the Executive Office confirmed they will launch a public consultation on proposals to establish a statutory public inquiry and a financial redress scheme for those affected by mother-and-baby institutions. Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly confirmed that burials and unmarked graves would be included in the scope of the inquiry.
"This gives further weight to the issue that the Church must stop all work ongoing at Milltown and protect the unmarked graves of the thousands of people, majority infants who rest there," added Nuala.
