A woman whose sister is believed to be buried in the Tuam grave has said she is “enraged” over the gardai’s recent decision to drop her case.
Annette McKay responded to an appeal from gardai last year urging people with connections to the mother and baby home to contact them.
Mary Margaret O’Connor died in the institution at seven weeks, after suffering from whooping cough, in 1943.
READ MORE: 'Tell me how my two brothers died at Tuam mother and baby home'
Her mother Maggie O’Connor passed away in 2016 after years of torment over questions around the death of her firstborn.
The tot was conceived as a result of rape.
Speaking to the Sunday Mirror last night, Annette said she was furious at all the wasted time she put into her complaint.
She said: “Yet again I’m told there’s nothing we can do. It’s historical, it’s too old. Not a single person has even been held to account for what went on in these institutions.
“My mother had to flee Ireland over shame and torment. She comes out with this story at 70 about her beautiful baby, and now they are both dead and there’s no justice all over again.
“I got a call from the gardai last week saying there’s nothing they can do.”
Mary Margaret is one of 796 tots who died in the Tuam mother and baby home which operated from 1921 to 1964 in Galway and was run by the Bon Secours nuns.
During that time hundreds of children died and their remains were buried in an old sewage system. The story of the scandal broke in 2014, but to this day, the children remain in the tank and no criminal investigation ever took place.
Annette, who lives in Manchester, reported her mother’s story to the gardai in January last year. In a statement to the Irish Mirror at the time, a Garda spokesperson said: “Following the final report of the Commission of Investigation into the mother and baby homes being presented to the gardai, An Garda Siochana will now examine the detailed and extensive final report, and consider if there are grounds for criminal investigation.” But Annette said: “I signed a statement and I expected a full investigation. I was promised I’d received this result in writing, but so far nothing has arrived.
“When I received that brief call last week saying nothing could be done, it took my breath away to be honest.
“I had said from the start I was going to be very clear, that I didn’t want to waste my time going through all of this.
“My mother was raped, the person who raped her is most likely dead, my sister is dead, so what can be done?
“But the point I’m making is, my mother was raped whilst in the care of the State. She was 16, she was pregnant and she was put into an institution where her baby died.
“I presumed the gardai would be speaking to the Bon Secours, but no one has gone near them it seems.
“I want to know why I have not been privy to their investigation and who they spoke to.
“I don’t want this brushed off. It was a completely disrespectful exercise doing this and it’s all at a cost to the Irish taxpayer.
“It was a waste of time, just like the Commission of Inquiry into the mother and baby homes. A box ticking exercise.
“It is insulting; here am I, 2022, my mother is dead since 2016.
“There is no justice and there won’t be now. This was a wild goose chase.
“I am so angry and enraged on my mother’s behalf.”
READ MORE: Husband of Irish mother and baby home survivor says Church was like secret service
READ MORE: Church and State working 'hand in hand' to avoid Mother and Baby Home responsibility
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