Planning Act needed to prevent caravans from parking at Clonmel cemetery
‘Totally disrespectful’ for caravans to park at St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Clonmel
Legal advice suggested that the Planning Act needed to be enforced to prevent people from parking or camping overnight on cemetery grounds, Jonathan Cooney, Borough District Manager, stated at a meeting of the Borough District.
Mr. Cooney was responding to a request by Cllr Pat English for the graveyard bye-laws for St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Clonmel to be updated to prevent people from camping there.
Mr Cooney said that their legal advice was that there were good bye-laws in place, but that if this happened again the Planning Act should be enforced.
Cllr English said it was “totally disrespectful" for the cemetery car park to be used in this way. It had happened recently for a third time and people were very upset because it was a place where people went to visit graves and reflect on their loved ones.
He understood that the bye-laws weren’t strong enough, while the gardaí stated they didn’t have enough manpower to move people on.
Cllr Richie Molloy said this had happened a number of times and had caused a lot of upset.: “It’s a sacred space and this type of behaviour wasn’t on.”
A lot of families visited St. Patrick’s on a daily basis and were put off by the caravans parked there.
He said that the security at the cemetery needed to be reviewed. A barrier system that wouldn’t allow caravans to enter the car park should be put in place, and they should also ensure that the carrier couldn’t be broken.
Cllr. Pat English said he thought the caravans had entered the car park through a gate and the locks had been broken.