Bessborough Appeal to be lodged next week
Bessborough Appeal to be lodged next week - The Labour Party
The Labour Party’s Cllr Peter Horgan will lodge an appeal next week to prevent the development of 140 apartments on the site of of Bessborough’s Mother and Baby Home with a protest planned for outside Leinster House Wednesday, 18th March. Cllr Horgan was only one of two submissions to the original planning in December which was granted by the local authority.
Speaking today, Cork Labour Senator Laura Harmon and councillor Peter Horgan said survivors of Mother and Baby Homes will be failed if development goes ahead on the site.
Senator Laura Harmon will address the protest at Leinster House next Wednesday.
Cllr Peter Horgan said:
“It’s so distressing to see survivors of Bessborough having to take to the streets in protest once again. The situation in Bessborough raises broader questions about how Ireland deals with sites of former institutions linked to the mother and baby homes system.
“It’s truly unbelievable that State agencies were silent on this application, especially when they were active in the past. In 2021, the Labour Party urged the Minister for Housing to use powers under Section 28 of the Planning Act to protect places like Bessborough from development yet they failed to do so.
“This site is part of a deeply painful and shameful chapter in Ireland’s history. My appeal is about making sure the future of the site is preserved a larger memorial with sensitivity, transparency and respect for those who lived and died there.”
Senator Laura Harmon said:
“I have heard from survivors, relatives and members of the wider community who feel profound hurt at the prospect of development on this site. For many families, Bessborough is not simply a location on a map. It is a place bound up with loss, unanswered questions and enduring grief.
“We still do not know where the vast majority of these children are buried. That an apartment development could just go ahead in this context beggars belief. Families are entitled to truth, access to records and a respectful process of memorialisation. Moving ahead with construction before these matters are fully addressed risks causing further pain and undermining efforts to establish clarity and dignity.
“It’s simple not appropriate to build on this site which is why the Labour Party is lodging this appeal. In circumstances where the remains of so many children have not been accounted for, sensitivity and care must guide every decision.”