Graves located to right of old church building
THE interference and destruction of some 37 graves in Mount St Lawrence Cemetery in a night time raid, is a new low for the city, Mayor Gerry McLoughlin said. “The cemetery is a people’s space and a reverential place and this kind of activity is mindless and crosses certain boundaries that should never be crossed.
“We thought we were getting the better of this, and how anyone could deliberately carry out this kind of destruction, beggars belief,” he told the Limerick Post.
Commenting on the shock discovery of the vandalised graves by staff on Sunday morning, Flan Haskett, superintendent of cemeteries, said the graves are located in an area of the cemetery to the right of the old church building.
“Some of the headstones that had been interfered with, were smashed when they fell to the ground and others had toppled over on to the ground.
“It’s a long time since we have had vandalism of this severity carried out in Mount St Lawrence – the last time we had graves interfered with was back in the early 80s – it is very disturbing for our staff, for the families involved and for everyone,” said Mr Haskett, who confirmed that there are CCTV cameras operating on the Ballysimon Road and Mulgrave Street.
Paul Foley, senior executive in the city council’s Environment Department, told the Limerick Post that they believe one of the cameras may have picked up helpful footage.
“We will probably be discussing the issue of CCTV inside the cemetery with the city councillors when the meetings resume in September”.
Confirming that a pedestrian gate is permanently left open, Mr Foley said this was agreed on to avoid the risk of anyone being locked into the cemetery at night
“it is important to stress that Mount St Lawrence is a safe cemetery to visit – this disturbing incident occurred during the night”.
The decision to provide 24-hour access to the cemetery was taken in response to the wishes of the public, Mr Haskett added:
“There are quite a number of people who like to visit the cemetery in the twilight hours and also, down through the years we had some instances with people being locked in, so the decision was taken to leave a pedestrian entrance open on a 24 hour basis”.
Mr Foley said an estimated cost of repair to the damaged graves is in the region of €50,000+.
Joe Lynch spokesperson for Republican Sinn Fein, says that dealing with such offences in the local District Court is a “waste of time.
“This type of mindless vandalism is an insult to the city and indeed, to the memory of the dead.
“A District Court can only impose limited sanctions but if €50,000 damage was done to a business premises then the case would go to the Circuit Court where stiffer penalties can be applied by a judge.
“This latest damage by these vandals has shocked all right thinking people and it is time that those responsible paid the price of their anti-social actions – such cases should be sent forward to the Circuit Court”.
