Labour Senator Laura and Carmel Cantwell spoke to Claire Byrne ahead of the protest against the construction on Bessborough site.

The Labour Party is lodging an appeal this week to prevent the development of 140 apartments on the site of Bessborough’s Mother and Baby Home. 

A protest has also been planned for outside Leinster House Wednesday evening. 

Senator Laura Harmon will be speaking at the protest later and Carmel Cantwell, whose mother gave birth to a son William, who is believed to be buried in Bessborough.

In 2021, the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes found that 923 babies associated with Bessborough died between 1922 and 1998, and burial records for only 64 of them were found…

The daughter of a woman who gave birth to a son believed to be buried in Bessborough has said that "something significant should be done on the site to preserve its memory.”

“There's so much trauma in that land, in that area, that we need to do something significant to show that we care and honour them properly,” Carmel Cantwell said on The Claire Byrne Show. 

“Witnesses have said there are definitely burials there. 

“This is the difference between what's happening in Bessborough and what happened in Tuam, because once remains are identified, that triggers a sequence of events that hasn't happened in Bessborough. 

“It’s like our dead don't matter. Do you really want to have apartments sitting over all this trauma?”

Ms Cantwell said the news that the planning permission was granted was “shocking” considering witnesses signed affidavits and went to the Commission of investigation. 

She pointed out the challenge of getting a director of authorised intervention as a body needs to be found before the process can be triggered. 

Labour Party Senator Laura Harman said Bessborough was a “national site of conscience.”

“It should be turned into a memorial in order to have healing, I think, for survivors and for the country in terms of our dark, shameful past in relation to how we treated women in relation to how we treated pregnancy.

“Part of that should include a survey of the site.The conditions currently don't go far enough in terms of the application.”

She suggested that a “memorial park” and an “education centre” would be more appropriate and respectful alternatives than allowing diggers on the site. 

“Besborough only closed in 1998. This is a very recent history and I think we need to deal with this respectfully in terms of survivors.

Main Image: Bessborough Mother and Baby Home site in Co. Cork.