Galway West TD Noel Grealish has welcomed progress in the long-running efforts to secure land for a new graveyard for Claregalway.
Galway County Council is this week publishing a notice of its intention to buy a site on the west of the village for development as a graveyard.
“This is very welcome news after several years of efforts to find a suitable site, as the existing Claregalway cemetery is full to capacity.
“The site in question covers about one acre and is located to the west of the village. The County Council have carried out all the necessary tests on the land and have deemed it suitable as a burial ground,” said Deputy Grealish.
Notices of the Council’s intention to purchase the land for the development of a graveyard will appear in local newspapers and on the council’s website this week.
“The next stage will be to bring the proposal to a meeting of the elected councillors from the Athenry/Oranmore Municipal District and the council expects to do this by the end of March next year.
“This will finally resolve what has been a major problem, with local people facing the prospect of not being able to bury their loved ones locally as the existing graveyard in Claregalway is almost full.
“The question of graveyard capacity is, indeed, a big difficulty all around the county, with existing traditional burying grounds filling up and finding additional land has been a problem for the County Council.
“I very much welcome the cooperation shown to the council by the landowner in their search for a site in the Claregalway area,” added Deputy Grealish.
