Fears have been raised over the rapidly decreasing amount of space in some of Donegal’s graveyards.
The matter was raised at county council meeting yesterday, at which Cllr Jimmy Kavanagh asked about the council’s position on providing more burial grounds for members of the main churches and non-denominations.
Cllr Kavanagh said some people in Donegal who are not part of the main churches have their remains brought to Derry or Dublin to get buried, despite having spent 30 or 40 years working in the county.
He added that the main church graveyards are fast running out of space.
“I’m wondering is there still any active body within the council looking after this?,” Cllr Kavanagh asked the council.
“It would be a shame to leave this until we reach an absolute crisis and that is approaching. We are being well warned about it but we don’t seem to be making progress.
“I appreciate that it’s not often you get suitable sites but we need to keep it to the forefront and keep searching for suitable sites because this is getting more and more critical with each year that passes.”
Cllr Marie Therese Gallagher commented that another issue exists with the upkeep of graveyard car parks.
“We need a scheme that we can subsidise or intervene to ensure there is car parking and the car parks are upkept.
“I think the council, through roads or community section, can make this an item on an SPC.
“We have communities now all over the county raising funds just to get potholes filled in a car park where their loved ones lie and I think the council should come in with something.”
Councillors were informed that information was gathered by the council at the beginning of Covid-19 in relation to the capacity of burial grounds, who delivers the service and what changes are needed. This information is set to be provided to elected members soon.
