LONG READ: 'The true meaning of respect needs to return to Cormac's Cemetery'

This week saw dozens of concerned locals attend a public meeting in Cashel to discuss the ongoing issues at Cormac’s Cemetery.

The meeting, organised by Cashel Fianna Fáil, took place at the Spafield Family Resource Centre and was chaired by Cashel Fianna Fáil Chairperson Paudie Taylor and Vice-Chairperson Collette Roche.

Local councillors Liam Browne and Roger Kennedy were also in attendance, however representatives from Tipperary County Council who had been invited to the meeting chose not to attend.

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Vice-Chairperson Roche began proceedings by discussing issues surrounding parking and safe access to the cemetery.

She explained that despite the growth in size of Cormac’s in recent times, parking remains capped at just four spaces which she believes to be “no longer fit for purpose”.

This was coupled with the fact that the car park reverses out onto a road with an 80km speed limit and that near misses are a regular occurence for people leaving the cemetery.

Vice-Chairperson Roche insisted that there is the capacity for a minimum of 12 parking spaces to be built in the vicinity of the cemetery and that a nearby council-owned car park should allow public use, particularly for large funerals.

The discussion on parking quickly turned to a lively debate on pedestrian access in and out of Cormac’s Cemetery.

Currently, the vehicular gate is locked day and night with the exception of funerals while the smaller pedestrian gate is open to visitors during the daytime.

Several members of the public in attendance made the point that a sizeable lift in the pavement meant that wheelchair users, people with mobility issues, and elderly people using walking canes and walkers find it difficult and/or impossible to enter the site and visit their loved ones.

One woman hastened to add that she had not been able to visit her husband’s grave in over four years because of accessibility issues.

Vice-Chairperson Roche deemed this and other stories like it as “wholly unacceptable” and “disrespectful”.

Next on the agenda for the evening was a discussion surrounding cemetery maintenance and the possible addition of a caretaker.

In a similar vein to the issues surrounding parking spaces, the growth of Cormac’s Cemetery over the years was cited as a reason for maintenance issues. Locals feel that the lack of an increase in manpower and financial backing means there is simply too much ground to cover for the existing workers.

Vice-Chairperson Roche raised the idea of approaching the council for a budgetary increase to allow cemetery workers more time in the summer months to stay on top of the foothpaths and weeding.

Earlier this week, Tipperary Live reported that a new caretaker position had been created to deal with accessibility issues and anti-social behaviour in the cemetery.

However locals at the Spafield Resource Centre remained sceptical about the power this individual would hold to impact any anti-social behaviour as well as the hours they would keep.

The evening became more animated when attention turned to burial plot restrictions and headstone bye-laws.

This has been a consistent bone of contention for Cashel locals for some time.

Oversized headstones, which exceed the 4ft 11in allowed under the current bye-laws, excessive decorations, and said decorations being blown from grave to grave creating an untidy appearance were all raised by frequent visitors to Cormac’s Cemetery.

Mags Casey is the Chair of the National Traveller Mental Health Network, it was at this point in the evening that she and several other members of the traveller community expressed their feelings of being the scapegoat of the issues at Cormac’s Cemetery.

They argued that graveyard decorations and presents for their loved ones are part of their cultural practices, whilst maintaining that no one person or community should be allowed to operate outside the bye-laws.

After a somewhat heated exchange, Cllr Liam Browne eventually invited the members of the traveller community in attendance to stay behind after the meeting and work together towards a solution that would suit everyone.

The meeting ended with a discussion on anti-social behaviour where several stories of late-night drinking, partying, and stone fights were heard.

Cllr Roger Kennedy said he’d been informed by the council that the cameras at the cemetery are not currently functional.

Functional CCTV and late night patrols, particularly on Sunday evenings where the behaviour seems to be most common, were suggested as solutions to dissuade further anti-social conduct.

Cashel Fianna Fáil concluded the meeting with a promise that all points raised on the night would be put towards the county council, who were referred to by members of the public as “faceless” throughout the night when it came to the issues at Cormac’s Cemetery.

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