Irish Government urged to buy former Bessborough mother and baby home lands

Sinn Féin party leader Mary Lou McDonald has urged the Taoiseach Micheál Martin to provide the resources needed to buy the Bessborough site.

Earlier this year Estuary View Enterprises was granted planning permission by Cork City Council to build 140 apartments on the grounds of Bessborough.

Bessborough Mother and Baby Home Support Group and Labour Party councillor Peter Horgan subsequently lodged appeals to An Coimisiún Pleanála.

On July 9 the commission upheld permission for the building of 106 apartments on the site.

This caused dismay among survivors of the home who are vehemently opposed to the development.

The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes estimated that 923 babies died at the home between the 1920s and 1990s.

“They want the government to purchase the site, ensure a proper investigation of the land, and preserve Bessborough as a place of national conscience,” she added.

The president of Sinn Féin said the burial place of more than eight hundred children who died at Bessborough remains unknown. “The land holds the truth. It is sacred soil - the final resting place of many infants. The Taoiseach must do the right thing. Take the lead, take control, and ensure that the State gets the purchase of the site done urgently.”