Appeal lodged against development on Bessborough grounds
An appeal has been lodged against the granting of permission for a residential development on the site of the former Mother and Baby Home at Bessborough in Blackrock.
Labour Party Cllr Peter Horgan said he had lodged an appeal against the development on Friday 20 March.
“It’s wrong to build on the grounds of Bessborough, and we won’t stand for it, and we have to make sure now that our voices are heard by An Coimisiún Pleanála,” he said.
He also said that members of the public can make observations to the appeal even if they had not taken part in the public consultation previously.
Last week, a demonstration against the development was held outside of Dáil Éireann.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou MacDonald said the granting of permission was a “cruel and obnoxious decision”.
“Accountability, dignity, respect, remembrance, naming the dead and acknowledging them - that is what we demand.
“There is no attempt here to be honest with the past or to call out the brutality in a way that really matters and actually honours all these precious lives,” she said.
Speaking in the Seanad last week, Senator Laura Harmon (Labour) said that Ireland risks taking part in a further wrong to cover our national shame “by bulldozing over the memories of those women and entombing this resting place of babies with concrete covered with apartments”.
She said she believes the remaining site should be turned into a memorial for educational purposes, rather than being sold off.
Permission was granted by Cork City Council for the development of 140 apartments on the site of the former Mother and Baby Home in February.
The permission is subject to 70 conditions, including that work would cease if juvenile remains were unearthed, and that an archaeologist be present on-site.
Senator Harmon said these conditions are a tacit admission that it is highly likely remains will be discovered.
This article was produced with the support of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme funded by Coimisiún na Meán.