Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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10. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 363 of 20 May and 79 of 1 July 2025, if he will carry out a feasibility study to assess whether the remains of the Invincibles (details supplied) 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. [38413/25]

Kevin Moran (Longford-Westmeath, Independent)
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The question of whether any persons might be reburied in Glasnevin Cemetery is not one on which I can comment on as Glasnevin Cemetery is the responsibility of the Dublin Cemeteries Trust.

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.

In relation to Kilmainham Gaol, my responsibilities to it arise under the National Monuments Act 1930 as a national monument and relate to its maintenance and presentation to the public. 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.

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.

Furthermore, the question of whether the OPW should be formally tasked with any feasibility study would be a matter for decision at the highest levels of 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. Visits by relatives of the Invincibles to the Gaol have and will continue to be facilitated by OPW. Meetings with relatives of the Invincibles and OPW would be premature at this stage prior to careful consideration of the issues I have set out here already.