Kinlough burial ground will be full in five years - Warnock

"At the rate the cemetery is filling up, within four or five years, there'll be no place for people to be buried," said Cllr Justin Warnock at the latest Manorhamilton municipal district meeting.

He said with the cemetery in Kinlough reaching capacity and no land is available to the Church for extending, he was asking Leitrim County Council to acquire lands for a burial ground and, in it, to provide a Columbarium wall for the loved ones of those who get cremated.

The Cathaoirleach said that plots are sold as people die and people "can't pre book a plot anymore; that used to be the case years ago."

Speaking to the Leitrim Observer, he said, "The church has no ground suitable for burial. 30 years ago the graveyard was extended and at that stage the population in Kinlough was below 300 and we've had exponential growth since then and gone to above 1,200 people. 

"I spoke to people from both churches, Church of Ireland and the catholic church, Fr Phair and Reverend Noel Regan, and the belief is that the council will have to provide a burial ground. 

"There are people from many different denominations and congregations are getting smaller in both churches so they feel it's no longer feasible for them to buy land and provide a service for everybody in the community," Cllr Warnock said.

A report by Roads section said the council can provide grant assistance to the local community/parish council under the burial ground policy, this can include for the acquisition of lands required to extend the graveyard. Leitrim County Council are currently looking at revising the burial ground policy to include Columbarium walls.

Cllr Warnock continued: "The best location would be adjacent to the old graveyard. It's up to the council now to find a site."

He said this will take a number of years to finalise. "By the time, the council sources the land and does the environmental impact assessment that needs to be done, etc. and paths and the Columbarium wall for those who want to be cremated; time is of the essence because we can't have a situation where people have to be buried in some other part of the county." 

Senior Engineer with Leitrim County Council, Eric Gilroy said there is a graveyard policy where "we grant aid them for their purchase of land". 

He said regarding the Columbarium wall, a new graveyard policy is to come before the SPC and "it will include for Columbarium walls."

Mr Gilroy said that as far as the council "going out and purchasing a site, I'm not aware of what resources we have to do that or what department would do that."

Cllr Warnock again stressed that the churches were in "no position"  to purchase the sites themselves. "The numbers are falling away and there are churches going to have to be closed and they shouldn't be held accountable to bury everybody. It's going to have to change; the council will have to come on board."