Longford County Council called to address rock problem at new cemetery

A local representative has called on Longford County Council 'to undertake urgent works to remove significant rock' at the new cemetery in Granard, which is under the ownership of the council.

Local Fine Gael Cllr Pádraig McNamara, who submitted a motion at a meeting of Granard Municipal District, said 'concerns had been raised regarding the presence of significant rock in the ground, which is impacting the preparation of plots and the overall maintenance of the cemetery’.

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"This is something that I brought up before and I know there is a cost involved to facilitate this and get it done.

"It's something that needs to be addressed urgently because it's going to cause major problems for people who have graves out there going forward.

"That is because when they bring in diggers to dig out the graves and what has happened already is that headstones have been damaged by the diggers which is incurring costs not only for the men doing the digger work, they are quite clearly saying they won't come back because of that and you can't blame them because it is costing them more money than they are possibly getting paid.

"I think it's something we need to address urgently moving forward and I'd be very anxious because it's a lovely area but there is no point in having it the way it is without having it done properly."

The motion was seconded by Independent Cllr Turlough McGovern who said it is costing a lot of money and causing difficulties for people.

Director of Services Barbara Heslin said the council is aware of the issues in Granard.

"It has been brought to our attention by the caretaker and also several families who have plots there.

"Unfortunately, Longford County Council does not have the financial resources to address the challenges there and that is just the reality of it."

Ms Heslin said there is no external funding mechanism so any funds that would have to be spent on doing the work would be required from within their own internal budget.

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"It is an issue in Granard but it is not the only cemetery in county Longford that has issues."

However, Ms Heslin stated they could look at plots and assess them on a 'case by case basis'.