JFMR AND CLANN PROJECT DEMAND IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF BESSBOROUGH REPORTS FROM COMMISSION OF INVESTIGATION ARCHIVE

23 July 2026

The Clann Project and JFM Research are calling on the Taoiseach and Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley to immediately release the archaeological assessments and other evidence regarding possible burial locations at Bessborough from the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation (MBHCOI) Archive.

The Government must give an immediate commitment to compulsorily purchase the Bessborough site so that survivors and affected people are not subjected to the cost and extreme stress of having to mount a High Court judicial review challenge–the deadline for which is looming on 1 September.

Today the Special Advocate for Survivors has published a shocking letter sent by former Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Dr Katherine Zappone, to An Coimisiún Pleanála regarding Bessborough. The former Minister confirms that while she was Minister, the Commission of Investigation (MBHCOI) did not properly investigate possible burial grounds at Bessborough, and that the Government has been aware of this for many years. The letter is on the public record in An Coimisiún Pleanála.

The former Minister says the MBHCOI made ‘modest efforts’ at Bessborough that ‘were not sufficient nor similar to the efforts made at Tuam’, and ‘these initial efforts do not meet the threshold of the state’s legal duty’. We are not clear why Dr Zappone is now making these statements that reflect poorly on her oversight of the MBHCOI–since she could have amended the Commission’s terms of reference to require proper efforts. Yet, we note that her statements contradict entirely Minister Foley’s continuing assertion that the MBHCOI made ‘extensive efforts’ to identify a burial location at Bessborough.

Former Minister Zappone confirms that the MBHCOI did not instruct its lead consultant forensic archaeologist to undertake Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) surveys or initial test investigations at Bessborough, despite employing these methods during its investigation at Tuam. She says it is urgent to ask the archaeologist ‘why, in her opinion, did the MBH Commission nevertheless conclude that burials were “highly likely” to have taken place on the grounds’? We need to know what evidence is being suppressed.

Earlier today an 89-year-old witness has come forward to state publicly how he informed the MBHCOI of his recollection of finding an open grave as a child on the Bessborough lands.

In our Observation to An Coimisiún Pleanála we argued that no planning decisions should take place without public access to the records, evidence and analyses gathered by the MBHCOI.

While the MBHCOI was proceeding between 2015 and 2020, we argued to it and to the Government, to no avail, that public hearings were necessary and that the MBHCOI should publish all evidence and analyses received to the maximum extent possible while respecting affected people’s privacy. The State now perpetuates the unjust secrecy caused by the MBHCOI, and allows a developer to make commercial plans for a site associated with 859 still-missing children and 19 disappeared mothers.

In response to a recent Parliamentary Question, Minister Foley claims that section 11(3) of the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 prohibits the disclosure of evidence given or documents produced by a witness in private. However, as the Special Advocate points out, burial ground investigations do not constitute ‘witness evidence’ and therefore are not subject to any legitimate restriction on publication. In any event, section 11(3) of the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 empowers the High Court to direct the disclosure of evidence and records contained within the MBHCOI Archive. And in 2020 the Oireachtas legislated specifically to give a large part of the MBHCOI Archive to TUSLA. There is no credible legal or procedural impediment preventing the Government from publishing the Bessborough technical reports. We hope that Minister Foley will not have to follow former Minister Zappone’s path in coming years in admitting that more could and should have been done under her watch, to grant minimal levels of justice and dignity to survivors and affected people.

Our email campaign, calling on the Government to issue a Compulsory Purchase Order in respect of Bessborough, among other measures, continues to gather momentum and can be joined here: https://clannproject.org/savebessborough/.

Today we are also publishing 156 observations collated by the Clann Project from among the 5,839 members of the online peer support forums of Adoption Rights Alliance, the Bessboro Mother and Baby Home Support Group, the St Patrick’s Mother and Baby Home Support Group and the Sean Ross Abbey Mother and Baby Home Support Group. The Clann Project submitted the collated observations to An Coimisiún Pleanála and they were subsequently validated by the planning authority. Most of the submissions were provided by people directly affected by forced family separation and institutionalisation, many of whom have a connection to the Bessborough Mother and Baby Institution. These observations are unanimous that development on the site is entirely unacceptable, especially while 19 mothers and 859 babies remain missing.

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