Bessborough mother and baby home should have been bought by the State, Tánaiste says

Olivia Kelleher

Tánaiste Micheál Martin has indicated that he has always been of the view that the State should have purchased Bessborough, the former mother and baby home in Cork, for conversion into a memorial or amenity site.

This week a decision made by Cork City Council to refuse planning permission for a proposed 92 unit residential development at Bessborough in Blackrock in the city was upheld by An Bord Pleanála.

The planning authority backed the decision of the local authority because of the historical landscape and potential human remains at the grounds.

Speaking in Cork, Mr Martin said that options should be explored in relation to the use of the site.

“I was always of a view that the local authority with the State should have purchased that site and have a proper memorialisation but also see if we could do things on a planned basis. It is a beautiful area. It can potentially be a very strong amenity area for the area as well, but that was always my view on it.

"I felt at the time that maybe the local authority should have got involved earlier and pre-empted what happened and bought it because there are medical facilities, or HSE facilities on the site," he said.

"There are a variety of facilities on the site, and it is a natural area and a green area as well, and we need to look at that as well."

Meanwhile, Bessborough became notorious for the cruelty and neglect of mothers and their babies.

Of the more than 900 babies who died at Bessborough or in Cork hospitals having been transferred from the mother and baby home over the course of seven decades, less than 70 have known burial sites.

Survivors of the home have broadly welcomed the decision by An Bord Pleanála to deny planning for building on the site.

Carmel, whose mother gave birth to a boy who died in Bessborough, told Red FM News of her delight at the decision by the planning authority.

"I'm delighted it is being refused. All the grounds potentially have burials in them. It is not just one particular area.

There hasn't been an investigation to establish whether there is a mass grave or where the children are but what we do know is that there is witnesses that have witnessed burials take place."