LIMERICK City and County Council officials have told people who have erected seats without permission in Mount Saint Lawrence Cemetery to take them away or the council will do it for them.
The seats, mostly made of stone, have been creating a problem for people in wheelchairs or with mobility difficulties who want to visit their loved ones’ graves.
Sharon McCarthy from Ballykeefe told the Limerick Post that her widowed mother couldn’t reach the grave of her late husband, Sharon’s dad, because of the bench seats, some of which are jutting out into walkways.
“My mother, like a lot of visitors to the cemetery, has difficulty walking and uses a Zimmer frame,” she explained.
“She couldn’t get past these benches and became very upset. There seems to be far too many of these seats and they are placed very poorly, obstructing the walkways.
“I asked some of the maintenance staff to help my mother which they very kindly did but my mother, who is very independent, was still upset that she could not reach my father’s grave without requiring this assistance.
“It puzzles me as to how a funeral can take place, as there is very restricted access for mourners or indeed transporting the remains in many areas due to the proliferation of these benches. I am a regular visitor to the graveyard with my mother and have never seen anybody using these benches.
“The cemetery otherwise in excellent condition and very well maintained,” she said.
In response to a query from the Limerick Post, a spokesperson for Limerick City and County Council said that the cemetery was designed “as a lawn cemetery and up until recently it was maintained as such. No seating or surrounds were placed in front of graves”.
“This is still the case and no seating or surrounds should be installed. All headstone makers are aware of the regulations and should abide by them.”
He said the local authority has spoken with some of the families who have placed items on their burial plots and written to all families concerned, “requesting they remove these items off their graves, unfortunately to no success”.
“We now intend placing signage up in the cemetery to advise the public of what is not permitted under our by-laws, along with writing again to all families concerned requesting they remove these items off their graves, within a certain time period.
“Thereafter these items will be removed by the Council in accordance with our Cemetery By-laws.”
