Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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363. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will instruct the Office of Public Works to carry out a feasibility study to assess whether the remains of the Invincibles Joe Brady, Dan Curley, Mick Fagan, Tom Caffrey and Tim Kelly, can be reinterred in Glasnevin Cemetery from their unmarked graves in Kilmainham Gaol, where they were interred in 1883; if his office will engage with family members of the Invincibles on this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25767/25]

Kevin Moran (Longford-Westmeath, Independent)
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Kilmainham Gaol, National Monument 675, opened in 1796 as the new County Gaol for Dublin and closed in 1924. Today the building symbolises the tradition of militant and constitutional nationalism from the rebellion of 1798 to the Irish Civil War of 1922-23. Leaders of the rebellions of 1798, 1803, 1848, 1867 and 1916 were detained and in some cases executed here.

As previously outlined to stakeholders through Parliamentary Questions and other representations, a proposal of this nature is extremely sensitive and involves a range of complex legal, historical, ethical and political considerations. While the general area where burials are believed to have taken place within Kilmainham is broadly understood, no definitive records exist indicating the exact location or identity of individual remains. Even if such identification were possible, there would be significant practical challenges involved.

The Office of Public Works does not have statutory authority under the National Monuments Acts to initiate a reinterment or to act unilaterally in such a matter. That responsibility lies with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

Furthermore, the question of whether the OPW should be formally tasked with any feasibility study would be a matter for Government. Such a feasibility study would have to address in full the complex legal, historical and ethical issues involved and would need to be considered within the appropriate statutory and governance frameworks.

Finally, I note the request to engage with relatives of the Invincibles. I have asked my officials to make direct contact with those groups and to make arrangements for meetings.