Catherine Corless, whose research first drew attention to burial practices at the Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, has said the announcement about the impending excavation of the site is wonderful news.
The local historian said details about the commencement of the works meant a huge deal to the survivors and families she has been in contact with since 2014.
She said that the advancement of the process brought huge relief to them and that it felt surreal, "after years and years, fighting and begging and hoping that this would turn out right, to see that justice would be served".
In the course of her research for the Journal of the Old Tuam Society in 2014, Ms Corless found that while there were death certificates for 796 babies and young children who had died in the home over a 36-year period, no burial records were available.
It subsequently emerged that significant quantities of remains had been placed in chambers, which formed part of a disused sewage system there.
"I have 796 certs, I couldn’t find one burial record … They were left there and forgotten about," said Ms Corless.
Her work ultimately contributed to the setting up of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes, and the eventual establishment of a dedicated State agency to oversee the exhumation of remains at the site where the Tuam institution once stood.
She paid tribute to the work undertaken the Director for Authorised Intervention in Tuam, Daniel MacSweeney, saying his thorough approach led her to believe the work would be carried out to the highest standards.
Ms Corless said families whose siblings died in Tuam were relieved that the excavation and exhumation of the site was finally due to begin.
"It’s not over yet but still it’s come to this. That’s what we asked for, that’s what we begged for. We’re not 100% sure if all the babies are there, we’re not 100% sure were they illegally adopted, [were] death certs falsified, it has happened elsewhere. Nobody knows, we can only hope that we will recover most of them," she said.
Reflecting on more than a decade of campaigning to have the site excavated, Mrs Corless said: "Something in me had to keep going for the babies and children because nobody seemed to care. I had to be a voice for them, and it was a simple message: This was wrong, it had to be righted.
"To me, that’s what’s happening now. It’s for the babies, to get justice," she added.
Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime, Ms Corless expressed relief as she feared this would not happen.
"Thank goodness, finally, after all those years, just to know that this is happening. It's a little bit daunting and I'm trying to get my head around it that this is real. This is happening at last".
"It has been years and years of frustration. Sometimes things will take a leap forward, and then months and months would pass and nothing was happening.
"It was very long fight since 2014 really, when the media got hold of it. But thank goodness it's come to this now. It's finally going to happen, and I believe it's in very, very safe hands."
She said that she was glad that she persevered.
"From the very start, that there was very little will in the government side, to do anything. They just wanted to plank a memorial there and to forget all about them. But this was way too big for that to happen, too many lives of little, lost babies.
"It took a long, a long time for the Government to take a little bit of action ... A lot of obstacles were put in my way. They really wanted to put up that memorial, and say 'that will be the end of it'. I really had to fight that, and I'm glad I did," she said.
