The Lord Mayor has come in for criticism for marking the death of the late, former Archbishop of Dublin, in the same moment as the council remembered those babies whose remains were discovered in Tuam last week.

Speaking following the March monthly meeting of the city council, Cllr. Éilis Ryan (Workers Party), said:

I spoke with the Lord Mayor this morning, and requested that he mark the lives and deaths of those babies whose remains were found in Tuam last week. I asked that the Lord Mayor hold a minute’s silence in their memory at the beginning of this evening’s meeting.

I was perturbed to hear that the Lord Mayor intended to hold a minutes silence for the Archbishop.

Cllr. Ryan said that there was no comparison between the untimely, unmarked and violent deaths of the Tuam babies, and the passing of the Archbishop.

Given the events and disclosures of the last week, it is unthinkable that we as a city would use our city council to mark any member of the Church hierarchy.

It is a time for grieving for those who our country failed, and for anger towards those who were complicit in making them suffer. I am disappointed that an attempt to remember the Tuam babies in dignity was marred by remembering the leader of the Church who betrayed them at the same time.