Burial space running out in a number of Laois cemeteries

Burial spaces in a number of locations across the county are running low, a council meeting has heard. 

Camross, Portlaoise and Killeshin were singled out as areas where cemeteries are in need of expansion. 

Fine Gael Cllr Conor Bergin said a “major project” is needed in Camross where “you can’t get a hearse at the moment into the end of the cemetery.” 

Sinn Fein Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley said “up at Portlaoise Cemetery it is nearly full to capacity.” 

Independent Cllr Ben Brennan told the meeting that they are about to run out of space at Killeshin Cemetery. 

“We will have to get somewhere or we will have to start cremating them and putting them all into one little hole,” he said. 

Fine Gael Cllr John King asked about the possibility of more columbarium walls, which are used to hold ashes of people who are cremated, in Laois cemeteries. He pointed out that not everyone wanted to be buried in a plot. 

Independent Cllr Aisling Moran said a columbarium wall should be built in every cemetery in Laois. 

Director of Services Donal Brennan said the council tries to assess the need for cemetery space each year “to keep up with what is expected” and staff were looking at areas. 

However, Mr Brennan said if land needed to be acquired “we are caught by public procurement rules.” 

In relation to columbarium walls, he said, “it is something that we will have to look at in the future.”  

Cllr Dwane Stanley requested a report to see how demand was looking around the county. 

Laois County Council Chief Executive, Michael Rainey, said a report would be brought to a later meeting. He said it would include a costing for columbarium walls. 

Cllr Brennan wasn’t pleased at Mr Brennan’s comments on procurement. He said such decisions shouldn’t be made purely on a financial basis. 

“Everybody is entitled to be buried in their own parish,” insisted Cllr Brennan. 

He said “money shouldn’t come into it” when it came to a loved one being buried in their parish.