CPO of Bessborough site 'not a straightforward' option, says Taoiseach

Micheál Martin said purchasing the former mother and baby institution site could not be done 'by just pressing a button'

Survivors of Bessborough with city councillors, TDs, and supporters at a protest at Cork City Hall. Picture: David Creedon

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said a compulsory purchase order (CPO) of the former Bessborough mother and baby institution site is “not a straightforward” option for the Government.

Last week, An Coimisiún Pleanála substantially upheld Cork City Council’s decision to grant planning to Estuary View Enterprises, clearing the way for the building of 106 apartments at Bessborough.

That decision came despite the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation finding in 2021 it was “highly likely” that some of the 859 children for whom burial records are missing were buried on Bessborough’s grounds.

Speaking in the Dáil on Tuesday, Mr Martin said it would not be a simplistic act to purchase the site, and it could not be done “by just pressing a button”.

“This does need reflection. It does need examination. I fully accept the disquiet that is out there,” Mr Martin said.

Concerns were raised by Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns and Labour leader Ivana Bacik.

Ms Cairns said the decision to grant planning permission was a “betrayal by the State of the thousands of women and children who were incarcerated and abused there”.

In response, Mr Martin said that while some might criticise the decision, An Comisiun Pleanála was an independent body.

Mr Martin noted there was no evidence of burials having taken place on the specific site earmarked for development.

In response, Ms Cairns said if the Government did not opt to CPO the site, it would be regarded as “the most callous decision”.

There were heated exchanges between Mr Martin and Ms Cairns, with the Taoiseach saying the Social Democrats did not have “a monopoly on empathy or anger on this issue”.

In response, Ms Cairns said: “No one cares about what you think on a monopoly on caring. This is about people who are buried in the ground."

In response, Mr Martin accused Ms Cairns of shouting him down, and he added that laws passed by the Government would require all work to stop on the site if human remains were found.

Mr Martin struck a more conciliatory note with Ms Bacik, who had asked that he talk with developers, suggesting that a CPO might not prove necessary.

“Certainly, I will engage with some of the suggestions you have made,” he said.

“But we also have to examine what if there are no burials in that specific site at all? What if there are none?” 

Tuesday’s Dáil exchanges came after the monthly meeting of Cork City Council voted unanimously on Monday to pass a motion calling on the Government to begin examining the process of compulsorily purchasing the Bessborough site.

During the debate that preceded that vote, Terry Shannon, a Fianna Fáil councillor who served as lord mayor in 2011, said he had been born in the mother and baby institution.

“I’m not a survivor, I was born in Bessborough, as were my brother and my two sisters, I’m not a survivor, I’m a citizen,” he said.

“If other people want to label themselves that way, then that’s fair enough, but don’t call me it, because I support the campaign, but let’s be careful with the type of words we’re using.” 

Mr Shannon is one of Mr Martin’s oldest friends, having soldiered with him since they were members of Ógra Fianna Fáil in the early 1980s.

Mr Shannon’s late wife, Ursula, was born in London and taken from her mother to be brought to Bessborough for adoption.

Mr Shannon said while he supported calls for the compulsory purchase of the Bessborough site, councillors needed to be aware that landowners would be entitled to compensation for residential land with extant planning permission.

“This will cost a lot of money and where it’s going to come from, I have no idea, but if it were simple and workable, it would have been done long ago,” he said.

Responding to criticisms from several councillors, assistant chief executive Brian Geaney defended the council’s planning department, saying it was “neither accurate nor fair” to suggest they were out of touch.

He pointed out that the Bessborough land had been rezoned for residential development in the Cork City Development Plan, which had been adopted by councillors in June 2022.

A rally in opposition to the development at Bessborough is planned for 2.30pm on Saturday at Cork City Library.