Laois Gardaí share update on Portlaoise cemetery descration

Laois Gardaí will meet public representatives and cemetery volunteeers in Portlaoise this week for talks on the recent desecration of Portlaoise Cemetery.

Portlaoise Municipal District county councillors and the Portlaoise Cemetery Committeey will meet the Portlaoise area Garda Superintendent Eamon Curley to discuss the extensive damage to SS Peter and Paul's Cemetery suspected to have been carried out in the early hours of Friday, February 2.

Gardaí also confirmed to the Leinster Express / Laois Live that while the investigation into the criminal incident is ongoing, a clear line of enquiry has yet to be established. 

While they have an open mind on the motive, the gardaí are understood to be working on the basis that it is likely to have been a random act of vandalism. Two common threads have been identified by Gardaí so far in the investigation. 

The Gardaí have also established that all the graves are located along the route of a 'rat run' through the cemetery on the Stradbally Road.

The issue is also likely to be raised in public by councillors next week at the Portlaoise Municipal District meeting. The Cemetery Committee is also due to meet this week after the Garda meeting.

The cemetery is owned by Laois County Council and managed with the support of a voluntary committee.