Council agrees to consider hiking grants for Tipperary burial ground committees to €1,000
A motion calling for this increase in graveyard maintenance grants was unanimously passed at Tipperary County Council's May meeting
Tipperary County Council’s financial chief has agreed to consider an appeal by ten councillors to increase the annual grant allocated to graveyard committees across the county to €1,000 next year.
Director of Services for Finance Mark Connolly said he was more than happy to include the motion requesting the hike in the grant as an item in the 2026 budget process as he was aware of the “excellent work” being done maintaining the county’s cemeteries.
The cross-party motion was tabled by ten north Tipperary councillors with several south Tipperary councillors voicing their support.
Proposing the motion, Independent Cllr Michael O’Meara urged council management to give the proposal “serious consideration”.
He said there was “huge and tremendous” voluntary work being done on graveyards but it was getting more difficult to get voluteers to do the work.
“We have a budget of over €200m. If we don’t make some effort in the budget this year to accommodate these local and voluntary committees we may not have them in the future,” he warned.
He estimated increasing the grant to €1,000 for the upkeep of burial grounds around the county would cost the Council an extra €72,000.
Independent councillors John O’Heney and Máirín McGrath and Fianna Fáil Cllr Micheál Anglim from the south of the county all spoke in support of the motion that was seconded by Cllr John Carroll.
Cllr O’Heney said while graveyard committees were grateful for the grant they receive from the Council, more often than not the maintenance of the burial ground cost more. The upkeep cost of some larger cemeteries was substantial and he agreed it was very hard to get volunteers.
Cllr McGrath described the motion as “reasonable and timely”. She cited the cost of fuel as a key reason for the costs “far outweighing” the grant. Due to the difficulty of finding volunteers to do this work, it was important to treat those they have fairly, she argued.
Mr Connolly said increasing this grant to €1,000 per committee will cost more than Cllr O’Meara estimated. He cited a figure of €110,000, which will be included in the calculations for the Council's 2026 budget.