A developer has been granted planning permission for more than 100 apartments at the site of the former Bessborough mother and baby home in Cork.Earlier this year, developer Estuary View Enterprises was granted planning permission by Cork City Council to build 140 apartments at the site.However, Bessborough Mother and Baby Home Support Group and Cllr Peter Horgan of the Labour Party lodged appeals with An Coimisúin Pleanála.The commission upheld permission for 106 apartments. One apartment block has been removed from the plans after the planning authority said it would adversely impact the historic landscape and the setting of Bessborough House, which is a protected structure.Bessborough campaigners have been vehemently opposed to the development on what they describe as “a site of conscience”.The Irish Council of Civil Liberties also expressed concern about the development. It said the Bessborough grounds have not been fully exhumed and the location of children who died there is unknown.The commission said there was no evidence of unrecorded burials in the area where the development is proposed. Conditions attached to the permission include forensic archaeological monitoring during construction works and the appointment of a liaison officer to engage with survivor groups.A protest took place outside the Dáil earlier this year over the plans for apartments on the site of the Bessborough mother and baby home. Photograph: Alan Betson