UPDATE: Public meeting planned following sickening vandalism at Cork cemetery

A public meeting is being planned following the sickening vandalism at St Catherine's Cemetery, Kilcully, in recent days.

The meeting is set to take place at the Commons Inn at 2pm next Saturday to help families who have loved ones buried in Kilcully. 

The aim of the meeting is to improve security at the graveyard and install more CCTV to help reduce anti-social behaviour and vandalism.

Currently, City Council CCTV only monitors the car park at Kilcully and not the activity in the graveyard itself.

Yesterday, campaigner for the elderly Paddy O'Brien described the heartbreaking scenes at a city cemetery, saying; "I've never seen so many people upset."

Large crowds continue to arrive to check on the graves of their loved ones following the attacks on graves.

Numerous reports of headstones being smashed, ornaments being broken or removed and items being stolen from graves have emerged over the last 48 hours.

Families arrived to the site to find headstones knocked off their plinths and the heads knocked off holy statues.

Empty bottles of alcohol were also found on graves.

Mr O'Brien, who runs Cork's Over 60s talent competition, visited the cemetery to check on the grave of his wife.

He said: "It's an awful sight. The place was packed. I'm going to hundreds of funerals here and I've never seen so many cars. I've never seen so many people upset, crying with tears.

"It's appalling. I was looking at one grave, I spoke to the family. Her wish was that she would be buried under a tree. The whole thing is gone, destroyed. They've taken away the stone.

"There are families here crying.

"My own wife is buried here.

"I spoke to a man who came down from Dublin to see his aunt's and uncle's grave. He was a fine man, in his fifties, but the poor man was upset."

A spokesperson for City Hall said: “Cork City Council are aware of this incident, the gardaí are currently investigating.”