THE decision by Limerick City Council to reserve sections of local cemeteries for graves with large memorials and headstones has been criticised by Ballynanty resident, Mick the Quill Ryan.
Mr Quill believes that this will encourage those who can afford to do so, to erect “massive memorials whereas ordinary families have to abide by the rules.”
He asserts that by designating a special section of the graveyard for memorials over and above the ordinary regulation size, the city council is, in effect enforcing a financial apartheid in death.
“For a considerable time the erection of huge memorials not in keeping with the general tidy layout of a graveyard was banned and a regulation headstone size enforced and most families agreed with this policy as it was a logical approach to marking graves and provided a uniform layout in the cemetery,” he said.
Mr Quill Ryan said it is “obvious that those with money have brought pressure to bear on the members of Limerick City Council to bring about the introduction of this new designation.
“In my view all it does is allow those with money to show off, by erecting massive memorials and this approach only creates a sort of class distinction in death – the council must rethink this new policy.”
