‘Beyond devastated’: Bessborough survivor says planning decision 'a total injustice' to mothers and babies 

A survivor of the Bessborough mother and baby institution has said she is “beyond devastated” at An Coimisúin Pleanála’s decision to uphold planning for the building of  apartments on the site.

Permission had been granted in February by Cork City Council to Estuary View Enterprises for the building of 140 apartments on the site of the former mother and baby institution.

In a majority two-to-one decision announced yesterday, three members of An Coimisúin Pleanála upheld permission for 106 of the 140 apartments.

In 2021, the Mother and Baby Homes Commission reported 923 child deaths relating to Bessborough, which operated between 1922 and 1998.

With burial records existing for only 64 of those children, the commission found that it was “highly likely” some of the missing 859 children were buried on the institution’s grounds.

Can not comprehend decision

Madeleine Walsh, whose son William was six weeks old when he died at Bessborough in 1960, said that she could not comprehend how planning was upheld.

“God forgive them, have they no heart or soul?” she asked.

“How could they think of building on land where children are missing?”

Tuam historian Catherine Corless said she was heartbroken at the decision to uphold planning at Bessborough, and that only a compulsory purchase order by the State could put things right.

“Cork City Council carries a lot of shame for this, and the planners, and in time they will be remembered for this,” she said.

“It’s a total injustice to the mothers whose babies were taken from them, it’s a total injustice to the poor babies. Where is the humanity in this decision? It’s like they don’t give a damn about the pain and the grief that they are adding to survivors, and nothing we said or did has made a scrap of difference to them.”

Cork-born actor Siobhán McSweeney, a vocal campaigner on the issue, said she was angered at the attitudes of some in official Ireland.

“Ireland has a huge housing problem, but to me there is an unforgivable disconnect if they think they can solve that by building over the bones of babies while thousands of derelict properties lie unoccupied around Cork city and county,” she said.

Compulsory purchase order 

“Micheál Martin, as a proud Cork man, and as the head of this Government, surely he must feel an obligation to affirm the apology this country gave to victims of mother and baby homes. 

"Surely the Taoiseach must help now to facilitate a compulsory purchase order for the lands at Bessborough and the establishment of a memorial park to all who suffered in that place.”

Noelle Brown, a Social Democrats member of Dublin City Council who was born in Bessborough in the 1960s, said the decision would be deeply distressing for survivors.

“Large-scale human rights abuses took place at this site, and this development is not something the public wants, there’s a very strong feeling that this should not happen,” she said.

Two appeals were lodged with An Coimisúin Pleanála against Cork City Council’s decision to grant planning permission to Estuary View.

Deeply hurtful for families

One was by Carmel Cantwell, daughter of survivor Madeleine Walsh, on behalf of the Bessborough Mother and Baby Home Support Group, and the other was by Labour Party city councillor Peter Horgan.

Ms Cantwell said the decision had been deeply hurtful for families who still did not know where their loved ones were buried.

“For the 18,706 mothers and children that went through Bessborough, I’m deeply sorry that the Irish State still doesn’t fully understand the trauma so many went through,” she said.

“This does not mark the end of our work. Our commitment remains exactly the same: To protect the dignity of the mothers and babies connected to Bessborough, to push for transparency and proper investigation, and to carry on pushing for a CPO to ensure that this site is treated as the place of national conscience it is.”

Mr Horgan said he has contacted Lord Mayor of Cork Damian Boylan to request a suspension of standing orders at next Monday’s meeting of Cork City Council.

In September 2025, the council passed unanimously a motion by Mr Horgan proposing that the council “would seek to begin a process with the relevant Government departments to CPO the entire land at Bessborough”.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin was asked for a comment.