Mayor praised as proposal to waive burial fees during Covid19 gets unanimous backing

Mayor Boyle proposed the measure at a virtual meeting of the full Council on Thursday evening.

She urged her fellow Councillors to back waiving burial fees at all-owned Council cemeteries during the COVID-19 crisis and her call was unanimously supported, pending a full report, detailing cost and how it could be implemented, to come before members in the coming weeks.

Colr. Duffy said: “I very much welcome the news that this proposal by the Mayor Michaela Boyle was unanimously passed at today’s monthly council meeting.

“These are very stressful times for anyone who loses a love one during this coronavirus pandemic with restrictions being placed on funerals and wakes.”

“This move will go some way to ease the financial burden on families in these very trying times.”

During the meeting, which was held online, the Mayor welcomed the fact that Council voted in favour of her proposal to waive cemetery fees at Council cemeteries.

Mayor Boyle said she looked forward to receiving a full report from officers on how this could be brought forward in the coming weeks, and added that the proposal, if ratified, would be a compassionate gesture by the Council to all those who have experienced loss during the COVID 19 emergency

At the meeting on Thursday, elected members were also advised that Cemeteries across the Council area remain open to the public from 2.30pm to 9pm daily with no access in the mornings to allow for funerals and maintenance works.

They heard how the cemeteries were exceptionally busy over the weekend with up to 7,000 people visiting over a two-day period, 5,000 of whom visited the City Cemetery. Strict social distancing guidelines, a one-way system and regular monitoring of the sites remain in place.