Government willing to support State purchase of Cork's Bessborough site, says Taoiseach

The Taoiseach said the historically significant site should be treated with respect and all future options carefully considered

Painted remembrance stones and child toys at the 'folly' on the grounds of the former Bessborough Mother and Baby Home institution. Picture: Larry Cummins

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has asked Cork City Council to engage with the owners of the grounds of the former Bessborough Mother and Baby Institution to "explore all options for the future of the site".

It is understood the Government is willing to support Cork City Council financially to purchase the Bessborough land, should negotiations with the landowners prove successful.

Survivors have called on Mr Martin to bring the 60-acre site into State ownership, and the Taoiseach said he believed a memorial park would be an appropriate future use for the site.

Mr Martin told the Irish Examiner that the site was of immense importance to many survivors and that this needed to be respected.

“Bessborough is an area of important historical significance and it’s a place of huge importance and connection for many, many families and people,” he said.

“We need to do the right thing for all concerned.” 

Mr Martin's intervention comes after Cork city councillors this week called on the State to acquire the Bessborough grounds.

Nine of the Taoiseach's 10 Cork Oireachtas colleagues wrote to Mr Martin this week urging him to intervene, while the 10th, Fine Gael junior minister Jerry Buttimer, said he fully supported survivors and their families.

Last week, An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) substantially upheld planning permission granted by Cork City Council in February, clearing the way for the construction of 106 apartments on the site of the former Bessborough Mother and Baby Institution.

The decision, which was made despite concerns that hundreds of missing children may be buried on the land, caused significant distress among the wider survivor community in Cork.

The Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary ran Bessborough as a mother and baby institution from 1922 until 1998. It was the largest such institution in Ireland and the last to close.

The nuns informed the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation that 923 infants died in their care. They retained burial records for only 64 children, meaning the final resting places of 859 children are unknown. The burial records of 19 women are also missing.

In 2021, the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation found it was "highly likely" that some of the missing children were buried on the institution's grounds.