Crematorium urged to solve grave crisis

Galway might be rated a great city to live in . . . but dying here is tending to be more problematic as burial spaces get scarcer by the day.

Work is still going on behind the scenes to secure a new cemetery site for the city – this week Mayor Donal Lyons said that the provision of a crematorium should be considered.

Sunday burials at either the New Cemetery, Bohermore or at Mt. St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Rahoon, have been ruled offside since 2012 due to labour requirements under the Health and Safety Act.

Now a full update on the city’s grave scarcity is to be given by City Council Chief Executive, Brendan McGrath, at Monday’s meeting of the local authority.

Mayor Donal Lyons told last Monday night’s meeting of the City Council that there was a need for two new cemeteries in the city, one on the east side and one on the west.

“We must also look at the possibility of a crematorium for the city. Currently, there are no cremations in Galway city, and families have to go to Cork or Dublin for cremations,” said Cllr. Lyons.

Fianna Fáil City Councillor, Ollie Crowe, once again pushed the City Manager to follow through on a commitment he gave to reinstate seven-day burials.

At Monday’s meeting, Mr McGrath indicated that he would have a positive announcement on the reinstatement of seven-day burials next week.

A spokesman for the City Council said that there was now ‘very limited capacity’ remaining at the New Cemetery, Bohermore, while the situation at Rahoon – although not as acute – still needed to be addressed.

“The City Council has been actively pursuing the issue of securing a new cemetery site, or sites, but so far no deal has been done.

“There have been two expressions of interest from landowners as regards the provision of land for new graveyards and these are being examined, as are a number of other options,” said the spokesman for the City Council.

For more on this story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune