Former minister calls for pause to Bessborough build over burial site concerns

Former children's minister Katherine Zappone has called for a pause to plans to build apartments on the site of the former mother and baby home in Bessborough, Co. Cork. She insists a search for skeletal remains must be conducted before any development proceeds.

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I think this can and should be done now before development... I think there should be a pause now in relation to the development.

Plans to develop the site have faced years of opposition from campaigners and survivors. The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes estimated that 900 babies died at the Bessborough institution, which operated from 1922 until 1998/99 under the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Thousands of women and children passed through its doors.

Permission for the development of 106 apartments was granted earlier this month. Ms. Zappone, who held responsibility for the Mother and Baby Home Commission from 2016 to 2020, stated her concerns stem from her time as minister. She believes past efforts to locate burials were insufficient and that a proper search is still needed.

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The careful, honest and moral thing to do is to look properly before we build.

"The careful, honest and moral thing to do is to look properly before we build," Ms. Zappone said, speaking on RTÉ's This Week programme. "I think this can and should be done now before development... I think there should be a pause now in relation to the development."

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We know 859 and 19 mothers died as Bessborough and they have no known grave.

Survivors' groups and campaigners argue that undocumented burials may exist on the land. They fear development could disturb evidence before investigations are complete. Ms. Zappone suggested a survey similar to the one conducted at the Tuam site could be a first step for Bessborough, emphasizing a need to determine the presence of remains within the 60-acre site.

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We need a similar first step as was done in Tuam - to have a similar approach to Bessborough as we did in Tuam, it needs to be taken one step at a time and to determine how to do that.