Support groups urge council to refuse planning for Bessborough site

The Bessboro Mother and Baby Home Support Group said the uncertainty around potential child burials on the site still exists today.

A computer-generated image of the proposed 92-unit residential development at Bessboro, Blackrock, Cork.

Bessborough survivor support groups have urged city planners to refuse planning for apartments on the former mother and baby home site.

They are among several parties to make submissions in relation to MWB Two’s second planning application on the Bessborough site in Cork.

The firm was refused planning in 2021 for a larger apartment scheme because that site partially overlapped a potential ‘childrens’ burial ground’.

In its decision to refuse planning, An Bord Pleanála said having regard to the findings of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes, and on the basis of the information submitted in the course of the planning application and oral hearing, it was not satisfied that the site was not previously used as, and does not contain, a children's burial ground.

It said it would be premature to grant permission prior to establishing whether there is a children's burial ground located within the site and the extent of any such burial ground.

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The firm then applied last year for planning for 92 apartments, in two blocks ranging in height from five to eight storeys, on a site immediately adjacent to this sensitive area.

In a report for MWB Two, forensic archaeologist Dr Niamh McCullagh said based on an assessment of available evidence, it is her opinion that the potential for the presence of highly disturbed human remains and/or burials exists at this proposed development site.

She has recommended that a forensic archaeological monitoring programme be employed in advance of groundworks associated with the development of this site.

She has recommended that if planning is granted, the entire site be monitored to a forensic standard.

'Too much ambiguity'

Among those to make submissions on the planning application are the Cork Survivors and Supports Alliance (CSSA) which said it is not opposed “to appropriate and sensitive development of the site at Bessborough”, but added: “It cannot be said, however, that the proposed development is either appropriate or sensitive, in circumstances where there is a strong potential for unrecorded 20th-century infant remains to be dispersed throughout the site of the proposed development.” 

In its submission, which has been signed by almost 90 people with links to the site, the Bessboro Mother and Baby Home Support Group said the uncertainty around potential burials on the site which existed in 2021 still applies today.

There is too much ambiguity surrounding burials at Bessborough, and until a full independent investigation is carried out to determine the truth, there should be no further construction on the grounds,” it said. 

Two larger apartment schemes on separate sites to the north of the former Bessborough estate proposed by another developer are still being considered by the board.