Appeal against Bessborough apartment plan expected this week

A protest against the planned development outside Leinster House on Wednesday.

Pictured are PJ Coogan, Brian and Carmel Cantwell with Stephen, Joy O’Regan and Christy Kirwan, organisers of a vigil which saw scores of people gathered at the gates of the Bessborough Mother and Baby Home to protest Cork City Council’s approval of 140 apartments on the site. Picture: Chani Anderson

An appeal against the development of 140 apartments on the site of the former Bessborough mother and baby institution is expected to be lodged this week.

It comes as both the Taoiseach and Tánaiste have pledged to meet with survivor groups.

In Februrary, developer Estuary View Enterprises 2020 received planning permission from Cork City Council to demolish almost a dozen buildings at Bessborough to make way for 140 apartments.

Last week, a rally held in opposition to the plans heard the proposal is an “attempt to concrete over the past”, while a protest against the development with survivors is planned outside Leinster House on Wednesday.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner at the UK-Ireland Summit in Cork on Friday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris both said they would meet with Bessborough survivor groups.

Mr Martin said there were differing perspectives around memorialisation of the site, and no certainty as to where children’s bodies might be buried.

“I think there needs to be a proper memorial at the site, so I will engage with the survivors in respect of it,” Mr Martin said.

Mr Harris said he was aware of “the great sense of hurt and trauma” felt by survivors of the institution.

“Bessborough has been a monument to tragedy and neglect, to a cold State and to a dark past,” he said.

The Tánaiste added that he could not interfere with a live planning case, but once that process was concluded, he was anxious to engage with survivors.

City Hall’s decision to grant permission to Estuary View came despite previous refusals relating to the estate and concerns that it may contain the unmarked graves of hundreds of children.

In its latest application, the developer said it had consulted with the Cork Survivors and Supporters Alliance (CSSA), which represents 50 families and does not oppose development at Bessborough.

CSSA has called for the compulsory purchase for memorialisation of land beside the Bessborough folly, identified on a 1950s Ordnance Survey map as a children’s burial site.

However, the Bessborough Mother and Baby Home Support Group, which has 700 members, is opposed to any development at Bessborough until the estate has been forensically examined.

Between 1922 and 1998, the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary ran Bessborough as a mother and baby institution, during which time 9,768 mothers and 8,938 babies were admitted.

In 2021, the Mother and Baby Homes Commission reported 923 child deaths related to Bessborough. Burial records exist for only 64 of those children, and the commission concluded it was “highly likely” some were buried at Bessborough.

Labour Party city councillor Peter Horgan said he intends to lodge an appeal against the planned development this week.

His was one of two submissions to the original planning last December granted by the local authority.

The other submission was made by Carmel Cantwell on behalf of the Bessborough Mother and Baby Home Support Group.

Mr Horgan said the Bessborough decision raised broader questions about how Ireland deals with sites of former institutions.

“It’s truly unbelievable that State agencies were silent on this application, especially when they were active in the past,” he said.

“This site is part of a deeply painful and shameful chapter in Ireland’s history. My appeal is about making sure the future of the site is preserved as a larger memorial with sensitivity, transparency and respect for those who lived and died there.”