Anger at Halloween fireworks and drinks parties in cemetery
St Mary's Cemetery in Carlow: 'It's very difficult to restrict access', says council
LOCAL people have expressed their anger and disgust at people setting off fireworks, drinking alcohol and listening to loud music in St Mary’s Cemetery, Carlow at Halloween.
A local resident who was out walking in Rathnapish on Wednesday and Thursday night could hardly believe the scene in St Mary’s Cemetery on both nights. She said that a crowd of people gathered on Wednesday night in the graveyard, letting off fireworks and partying, but that the following night, which was Halloween, even more people had congregated.
“They must have organised a time to arrive because they seemed to arrive together. There were so many cars there and then they started to let off fireworks. They had a fireworks display in the middle of the graveyard. Can you imagine that? It was like a playground,” the woman, who didn’t want to be named, told The Nationalist.
“There was a big crowd of them, letting off the fireworks towards the trees there. I was afraid that one would get caught in the trees. I actually crossed the road, to walk on the Braun side, because I was afraid that a firework would land on my head. I told myself that I’d better run, just to be safe,” she continued.
The woman said that the crowd were letting off bangers, making a terrible racket and that they were standing on graves, drinking alcohol. As a regular walker in the area, she said that she sometimes hears music being played in the graveyard, which she can just about accept with how people want to relate to their deceased family members, but the shenanigans around Halloween were “the lowest of the low”.
“Other people come and visit their family graves, so it’s certainly not fair on them. They had fireworks that made a loud, whistling noise and they would go flying up into the air before they burst. They also had bangers, so the noise was terrible,” she said. “It’s an absolute disgrace, it’s so disrespectful. It’s almost unbelievable – something has to be done.” Carlow County Council is responsible for St Mary’s Cemetery and director of services Padraig O’Gorman said that the local authority had discussed locking the graveyard at night, but this idea was rejected because it wouldn’t be fair on people who wanted to visit the graves of their loved ones at night. He also said that all anti-social behaviour should be reported to the gardaí.
“It’s very difficult to restrict access,” said Mr O’Gorman. “People should be able to go to the cemetery whenever they want, to find solace there. It’s been discussed at council level before, but it was decided that we shouldn’t curtail access for the public.” Superintendent Anthony Farrell said that the gardaí learnt about the goings on in St Mary’s Cemetery, but only after the event. He is appealing to people to report anti-social incidents as they are happening so that the gardaí can deal with them straightaway.
“Yes, we got feedback as to what happened there, but we didn’t get any real-time information. The cemetery is on our patrol radar so we’ll monitor it over the next few weeks. If you see a problem, please ring us as it’s happening and not afterwards, when it’s too late,” concluded Supt Farrell.
