Survivors to hold protest against Bessborough apartments in Cork City this Saturday

Survivors of the Bessborough mother and baby home will host a demonstration in the city centre Saturday afternoon to put pressure on the Government to buy the site and prevent plans to build apartments on the land from going ahead.

The protest will take place outside the library on Grand Parade at 2:30pm.

Earlier this month, an appeal to An Coimisiún Pleanála failed, and plans for more than 100 apartments on the grounds of the former mother-and-baby homes were greenlit. The number of permitted apartments was reduced, but calls from survivors to halt the development altogether were dismissed.

This decision has been met with cross-party condemnation, with a motion calling for the Government to begin a compulsory purchase order (CPO) passing unanimously at this month's Cork City Council meeting.

On Monday, a cross-party coalition of councillors, comprising representatives from Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, Labour, Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats, and the Green Party, assembled on the steps of Cork City Hall, unified in their call for a compulsory purchase order (CPO) of the land.

The public is being urged to support the demonstrators. Cork senator Laura Harmon said: “The Taoiseach and his Government know that there are still unanswered questions about what happened at Bessborough. Nine hundred and twenty-three babies died there, yet only sixty-four are accounted for."

“Survivors continue to come forward with eyewitness accounts, while families are still searching for answers. Granting planning permission before all available records have been examined and before every appropriate modern investigative technique has been used is deeply concerning.

“Tomorrow, survivors will gather in protest against this decision. I urge members of all political parties and none, locals, and activists to stand with survivors and work to preserve this site.”

This development has always been controversial. During the original planning process, there were many strong objections by Bessborough survivors and local Councillor Peter Horgan to the development. 

This included an objection submitted by Carmell Cantwell, who previously spoke to Cork Beo about her experience in Bessborough and losing her son at the site in the 1960s. 

She submitted on behalf of the Bessboro Mother and Baby Support Group, and said that in the absence of a comprehensive archaeological investigation, the State would be breaking promises made to survivors. 

The group fears that development could disturb previously undiscovered burial sites on the property.