'Desecration' of Kildare graveyard condemned

Maynooth residents have been left in a state of shock at illegal dumping discarded at Laraghbryan Cemetery in Kildare this week.

Independent councillor, Bill Clear, told the Leinster Leader that the dumping, which covers the cemetery car park but also the cemetery itself, is nothing short of “horrendous.”

According to reports, a small number of caravans had taken residence in the cemetery car park before a barring order was issued by Kildare County Council.

These were followed by several more caravans, before a second barring order was issued, forcing the group to leave the site.

Unfortunately, as Cllr Clear explained, the group left a trail of destruction in their wake when they left.

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Speaking to the Leinster Leader about the condition he found Laraghbryan Cemetery in when he visited this week, Cllr Clear said: “A lady contacted me saying that she hasn't been able to go down there and do I know if it's safe to go down there now. So as it happened I had to go over to somewhere near Celbridge so I said I'd nip over and have a look.

“I went over to have a look and I was absolutely horrified at what I saw. Human faeces, a massive amount of dumping, burnt mattresses, household rubbish, household clearouts, all there burnt in a mess.

“Faeces in the graveyard itself, household rubbish and illegal dumping type stuff thrown over the wall in the graveyard itself. I honestly couldn't comprehend why a community who hold their dead in such high esteem and are very respectful and all that, could do that to other people.”

Cllr Clear said Kildare County Council have been informed of the dumping, which will cost an estimated “€10k-€20k” to clean up.

He added: “It's money that could be spent on the graveyard, money that could be spent on Tidy Towns Maynooth, money that could be spent much better elsewhere.

“A large part of the environment budget is going towards cleaning up illegal dumping, this kind of desecration as I call it of a religious place.”

According to Cllr Clear, there had also been an element of “intimidation” from the group towards people visiting the graveyard, with local people now “glad they're gone.”

Hurt

He said: “They're glad they're gone, they're horrified with the mess. There were two people I spoke to and you could see it in their face, they were genuinely hurt. It was a painful experience, people who are religious like that, when someone desecrates the resting place of your loved ones they're genuinely hurt by that.

“We should be making examples of these people, we should be bringing them into court to explain the dumping site in particular. We have to name and shame them, we have to do it.'

Cllr Clear concluded: “I would like to say that there's a lot of good people in that community, but there's bad eggs like these that really don't do them any favours.”