29-06-2025
Taoiseach pledges to address remembrance for the women and children of Bessborough
The Taoiseach has pledged to work with all concerned to address the complex issue of remembrance and memorialisation at the former Bessborough mother and baby home in Cork.
Micheál Martin made his comments at the annual commemorative event on the site on Sunday, during which he also paid tribute to the tenacity of campaigners Ursula Shannon and Mari Steed, and to 'the angel of Bessborough', John Furlong, who have all died in recent months.
Mr Martin told those attending the event:
Nothing can undo the wrong that has been done, but comfort can be brought to those of you who remember your brothers, sisters, family members.
'The facility, opportunity, the space must always be created and provided to enable us to remember and atone.'
Much of the vast Bessborough site is now in private ownership, with several developers seeking planning permission to build apartments on the site.
However, in previous rulings on two applications relating to one area near the site's folly, An Bórd Pleanala said it considered that the potential exists for the presence of human remains and/or burials at those proposed development sites.
Among recently deceased campaigners that the Taoiseach paid tribute to on Sunday was 'The angel of Bessborough', John Furlong, who helped women flee the Bessborough mother and baby home in Cork. File picture: Denis Minihane
The board said it considered it would be premature to grant permission for those two developments prior to establishing the extent of human remains, if any.
Mr Martin said while the potential for burials at the Bessborough site has been identified in the Cork City Development Plan, there is 'unfinished work here' in terms of existing planning permissions, and because the land is not in state ownership.
He said he would work with the local authority, and all involved to see how best the issue of memorialisation on the site could be dealt with.
"I am not going to make any simple promises or declarations — these things have to be navigated but I will work with Cork City Council, and in terms of the land here, to see how the situation can be unravelled."
He also pointed to the recent grant of planning to the Office of Public Works to develop a National Centre for Research and Remembrance at the site of the former Our Lady of Charity and Refuge Convent and Magdalene Laundry on Sean McDermott St in Dublin which was the State's last Magdalene laundry when it closed almost 30 years ago.
Mr Martin said the national centre will work with local groups on the issue of remembrance and memorialisation.
