Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.

An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.

FORMER MINISTER FOR children Katherine Zappone wrote to An Coimisiún Pleanála to express her concern at plans to build apartments at the site of the former Bessborough mother and baby home in Co Cork.

Her letter was included in a collection of publicly available submissions obtained by Patricia Carey, the special advocate for survivors of institutional abuse.

Earlier this month, An Coimisiún Pleanála granted permission to private developer Estuary View Enterprises to build 106 apartments on the site. The decision was made following an appeal.

The plans have faced fierce opposition from campaigners and survivors for years. Some have said they are prepared to chain themselves to diggers to prevent the building of apartments at the site.

The home was run by the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and operated between 1922 and 1998.

The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes’ report found almost 20,000 women and children were admitted during that time. It estimated that 923 children died while resident at Bessborough.

Only 64 have known graves, meaning the burial place of 859 children is unknown.

Some 31 women died in the mother and baby home, but the commission only found death registration records for 29 of the women.

Zappone, who served as minister for children between 2016 and 2020, had responsibility for the commission.

In her letter of appeal, dated 13 April, she expressed her “passionate belief in the human dignity of the 19 mothers and 859 infants associated with Bessborough whose burial places are not known”.

She said the commission made “modest efforts” to locate burial grounds at Bessborough, but that these efforts “were not sufficient or similar to the efforts made at Tuam”.

In its decision to grant planning permission for the apartments, An Coimisiún Pleanála said there was “no evidence that there are unrecorded burials in the area proposed for the subject development”.

But said it is acknowledged that “the history of burials on these lands is incomplete due to the lack of records during the period of use” of Bessborough as a mother and baby home.

The planning commission said it proposed forensic archaelogical monitoring during construction, and “should human remains be discovered, full forensic controls would be applied”.

But in her letter, Zappone outlined that she did not agree with this approach.

“There is a great risk to destruction of human remains in any kind of archaeological excavation as would be required for the burials,” she wrote.

“It would seem logical to conclude that builders/developers who are working on the site would hold even greater potential to destroy the human remains, even with the monitoring, thus potentially obliterating any kind of possibility of DNA identification.”

She added:

I am not convinced that a proper process can be done by archaeological professionals standing on the side of builders and their bulldozers.

Zappone said the best way forward is for the state to order a geographical survey of the site.

She said the site of the former mother and baby home in Tuam had used ground penetrating radar to examine the land, but that the commission of investigation did not request that this testing be done at Bessborough.

She suggested that An Coimisiún Pleanála seek information from Dr Niamh McCullagh, the lead forensic archaeologist of the excavation at Tuam, as to why the commission of investigation did not do this.

Patricia Carey said the contents of Zappone’s letter “clearly indicates that the former Minister is concerned about the sufficient efforts by the Commission to locate infant and child remains in Bessborough”.

Carey, who was born in the Bessborough mother and baby home, said that many people have contacted her office to ask her to “raise the issue of their not knowing where their child is buried on the grounds of institutions across Ireland”.

“The fact that there is no definite identification these burial grounds is a heartbreaking situation for those mothers and the wider family members of those children who died,” the special advocate said.

Last week, Taoiseach Micheál Martin confirmed that he has asked Cork City Council to engage with the landowners of Bessborough to explore “all options” for the future of the site.

In a statement on social media, Micheál Martin said 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.

To embed this post, copy the code below on your site