Overview
- An Coimisiún Pleanála granted planning permission last week for a revised development of 106 apartments on part of the former Bessborough mother-and-baby home site.
- Survivors, their advocates and opposition politicians say the decision is deeply distressing and are calling for a compulsory purchase order to stop building and protect possible burial areas.
- The Government and the Taoiseach say the Institutional Burials Act 2022 sets legal thresholds that prevent excavation without clear evidence of burials, and the planning permission includes a requirement to stop works if human remains are found.
- Appeals against the planning board’s decision have been lodged by survivor groups and local councillors and cross-party pressure is building in the Dáil for the State to act to secure the land.
- The dispute rests on the Commission of Investigation’s finding that hundreds of infants likely died at Bessborough, a history that fuels survivor demands for full investigation, identification of remains and formal memorialisation and that may force legal and political choices about public ownership or further inquiry.