Campaign group opposed to ban on cars at Clonmel cemetery to address Clonmel Borough District meeting today

A delegation from the Clonmel campaign group opposing plans to ban vehicles from the town's St Patrick's Cemetery will address meeting of Clonmel Borough District's councillors this evening (Wednesday) about why the cemetery should remain open to cars. 

Two members of Friends & Families of St Patrick's Cemetery Group will make a direct appeal to Council management to reverse its plan at the Borough District meeting in Clonmel Town Hall. 

The delegation's attendance at the Borough Council meeting is taking place against the back drop of an escalation in their dispute with the Council this week.   

They moved their daily protest outside Tipperary Co. Council’s Civic Offices in Clonmel to the gates of St Patrick’s Cemetery on Monday after word reached them that workers were marking out where to erect the vehicle barriers on the Cemetery's roadway. The workers stopped their work on marking out the roadway after the protesters arrived. 

The Friend & Families of St Patrick’s Cemetery Group’s main  grievance is that banning cars from the cemetery will make it difficult for people with poor mobility to visit the graves of their loved ones. They also point out that some people  visit family graves at night and for safety reasons they need to bring their car. 

The Council has argued that the increasing volume of traffic in the Cemetery is a health and safety hazard and is causing repeated damage to grave kerbs, which is upsetting families. The volume of cars using the cemetery is also impacting on people who wish to visit graves in a peaceful environment. 

Read full report on this issue in the printed edition of The Nationalist in shops today.