State should step in to buy Bessborough land

State funds should be used in a compulsory purchase order (CPO) of the site of the former Bessborough Mother and Baby Home, a demonstration in Cork organised by survivors of the institution has heard.

Over 1,000 people gathered on Cork’s Grand Parade on Saturday 18 July to hear from survivors and campaigners.

Cork City Councillor Peter Horgan said the cost for the CPO needs to be borne by the state rather than by the council, which he said could not afford to do so. He said An Taoiseach Micheál Martin should not be “fobbing” the cost back onto the city council.

On Friday 17 July, an Taoiseach said that he was encouraging Cork City Council to engage with the developer to explore “all options for the site”. "Bessborough is of huge importance to many people and families at home and abroad. We need to do the right thing for all concerned," he said.

Previously, on Monday 13 July, Cork City Council unanimously agreed to call on an Taoiseach to begin the process of making a CPO of the site.

Cllr Horgan, who proposed the motion, said that the decision by An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) to grant planning permission was “abhorrent”, and in contravention of the City Development Plan.

ACP justified its decision on the grounds of a severe housing need in the area.

However, Cllr Horgan said there were already a number of housing developments in the area. “There is already housing in the area, but we don’t want housing on this site of national conscience,” he said.

He said he will be working with politicians across all parties and none to ensure that the site is brought into public ownership.

Senator Laura Harmon said the decision by An Taoiseach to encourage engagement between the council and the developer was a direct result of direct and collective action by campaigners.

“They say that the arc of history bends towards justice; but that arc only bends because we make it bend,” she said.

Carmel Cantwell, a member of the Bessborough Mother and Baby Support Group, whose brother was one of the children who died in the home, said Bessborough must be recognised as a site of national conscience.

“A site of national conscience is where a country chooses to remember. A place where truth is honoured, and suffering acknowledged.

“Bessborough must be recognised as such a site, and if we truly mean that, developments on this land cannot continue. This is not development land; it is a landscape of loss,” Carmel Cantwell of the Bessborough Mother and Baby Support Group said.

This article was produced with the support of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme funded by Coimisiún na Meán.