With no burial plots remaining in Annaghdown graveyard, and a lack of funding available to Galway County Council to buy a site for a new burial ground, the current graveyard must be extended.
This is the view of Independent Galway West candidate Sen Fidelma Healy-Eames, who is calling on the Department of the Arts, Heritage, and the Gaeltacht, to "use its discretion" under the National Monuments Acts, to give permission to expand the current graveyard at Annaghdown. She said there is "precedent in place for such a decision", as made by a previous minister at the same department.
The difficulty in extending the boundaries of the current graveyard is that it is located on the shores of Lough Corrib, along a national heritage area and special area of conservation. Furthermore archaeological digs are taking place at the area, although according to Sen Healy-Eames, "extensive digs in this site" have produced "nothing of any significance".
Sen Healy-Eames is now calling on the Department to listen to the Annaghdown Cemetery Committee, which has surveyed the local community, and which has identified a nearby site of 3.4/3.5 acres, that would cost €100,000. However the entire budget for cemeteries the Galway County Council has for this year is €100,000, and the maximum amount it can pay out is €10,000 an acre.
“I am asking the Department again to look at the archaeological evidence and listen to the people of Annaghdown," said Sen Healy-Eames. "Act on the precedent made by a previous minister, and grant an extension to the graveyard at the current location. This will bring peace of mind to the community."
