Families may have to bury dead on pathways with cemetery full to the brim

A GRAVE crisis across Connemara is causing some families to consider taking burial plots along the pathways of one cemetery, a councillor said last week.

Cllr. Dáithí Ó Cualáin (FF) said that the shortage of space at Knock Cemetery in Inverin was forcing families to consider the graveyard pathways as possible burial plots.

“We have a real problem here with the availability of cemetery space in Inverin but we need to look too at the other graveyards in the Connemara region,” said Cllr. Ó Cualáin.

Now councillors in the Connemara region are to set up a meeting with the five Galway West TDs in an effort to secure a meaningful chunk of national funding to tackle the problem of inadequate burial spaces in the region.

One councillor told last week’s Connemara Municipal District meeting at County Hall that Galway Co Council should have a more pro-active approach in relation to securing land for the provision of new graveyard space.

Cllr. Seamus Walsh also called for the use of the Compulsory Purchase Order process to acquire the necessary land for new cemeteries and cemetery extensions.

He said that in-tandem with the CPO process, a mechanism had to be put in place whereby landowners were paid a fair and realistic price for the land they provided for graveyards.

“It galls me to hear Ministers making announcements about millions for this and millions for that, while here in Connemara we haven’t the space to bury our dead,” said Cllr. Walsh.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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