Thoughtlessness of few closes cemetery gates

St Brigid's Cemetery during Cemetery Sunday.

The St Brigid's Cemetery gates have been locked on orders of Kildare County Council because of issues related to them being constantly left open, and of vehicles being driven on the paths between the graves, writes Brian Byrne.

The Council is exploring remedies, such as the possibility of erecting removable barriers to bar vehicular access to the paths and devising some method of ensuring the gates are closed when people leave.

"When people leave the gates open, animals could get in and damage the graves," caretaker John Brady told the Diary. "Cars being driven along pathways, only designed for pedestrians and maintenance work, can also do damage. They have also been driving on the grass, despite appeals not to. That has to be stopped."

Local people have become very annoyed since the gates were locked. Parking on the narrow road outside is limited, and elderly and infirm visitors have difficulty walking from the road to the graveyard. There's also concern that cars left out of view on the road might be broken into. John has been caretaker of the local cemeteries for decades, and understands the frustration.

"Graveyards are very important to people, and they need to be respected by everyone. I want to see this sorted out as much as anyone, but the Council has to be conscious of its liabilities too."

He says he has on occasions had to check the cemetery as many as nine times in a day, and still found the gate open, even late at night. "There's never that problem at the New Abbey Cemetery," he adds. "When people need to drive in, they open the gate, and they always seem to close it when they're finished."

He also dismissed suggestions that rubbish dumping was a reason for the closure. "There was a report made that someone was seen dumping, but we searched all around and found nothing."

While everyone's waiting for the Environment Department in the Council to come up with solutions, it's worth considering that maybe the simplest one is for people to show respect by not driving where they shouldn't, and closing the gate when they leave.

As it is, many are now being discommoded by the thoughtlessness of probably a very few.