Micheál Martin backs bid to bring Bessborough site into State ownership
A simple black cross and rosary beads have been added to a manhole marker which has been painted to resemble a headstone 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 financially support Cork City Council in purchasing the Bessborough land, should its 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 felt a memorial park would be appropriate for the site.
Mr Martin told the that the site was of immense importance to many survivors, and that 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 decision 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 asking him to intervene, with the tenth, Fine Gael junior minister Jerry Buttimer saying he fully supported survivors and their families.
Last week An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) substantially upheld planning permission granted in February by Cork City Council, a decision which cleared the way for the building of 106 apartments on the site of the former Bessborough mother and baby institution.
That decision, which was made despite concerns that hundreds of missing children may be buried on the land, caused great distress in Cork’s extended survivor community.
The Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary ran Bessborough as a mother and baby institution from 1922 to 1998. It was the largest such institution in Ireland and the last to cease trading.
The nuns informed the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation that 923 infant deaths occurred in their care. They only kept 64 burial records, and as a result 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” some of the missing children were buried on the institution’s grounds.
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