The Workers’ Party has called on the government to immediately take over the burial grounds of the former Bessboro Mother & Baby home in Blackrock on the Southside of Cork city.
Workers’ Party Cork Councillor Ted Tynan said that following the partial demolition of the old building known as Bessboro folly over last weekend on the instructions of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary the order had lost the trust of the general public and he called for the gardaí to take over that part of the site and treat it as a crime scene in relation to the hundreds of children said to be buried at the site.
Cllr. Tynan described the demolition of Bessboro Folly as outrageous and the party is writing to Department of the Environment and An Taisce about the matter.
He said: “the demolition of this old, if not historic building, was an act of gross vandalism on the part of the Sisters and raises very serious questions regarding their attitude to the ongoing investigation into the site. It is essential that this site be secured and no further interference or works of any type be carried out there without the express approval of the appropriate authorities including the gardaí”.
Meanwhile Catherine Coffey, Workers’ Party activist and survivor of a Mother & Baby home, said she and other survivors were very angry about what was done in Bessboro last weekend. She said: “This outrageous act has grievously hurt the survivors and their families. It could not have been done other than as a cold and calculated affront to all the survivors, whether of Bessboro, or any other such institution.”
Catherine Coffey said: “The actions of the Sisters of Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary have been devious and appalling. They already tried to silence Cllr. Ted Tynan with a threat of legal action which he has refused to surrender to. They must now be told in no uncertain terms that they cannot in any way interfere with this site which is nothing less than a crime scene”