Longford County Council to address headstone height issue

Longford County Council are to meet with undertakers about the enforcement of graveyard height restrictions in the county.

The meeting follows an observation at the February Longford Municipal District meeting in which one local elected representative said that the current restrictions are being ignored.

Cllr Seamus Butler raised the issue saying that the current regulation on the heights of headstones are being breached. Cllr Butler said: “Can we insist on enforcing the regulation, they need to be strictly applied in future. What is the point in having the regulations if they are being ignored? It's one rule for some, and another rule for others.”

At present Longford County Council have restrictions on the maximum size of memorial permitted. Under the regulations the height of any headstone on a place of burial can't exceed 1.2 metres above the ordinary level of the surrounding ground.

There is an exception to allow a Celtic Cross that does not exceed 2.5 metres.

Director of Services with Responsibility for Housing, Planning, Regeneration and Capital Projects, John Brannigan, said he would bring the issue to the attention of the Environmental Section of the council and liaise with undertakers on the issue.